If I Get A Choice, I Will Choose To Stay
by White Comet
Summary: How different would my life be in Equestria? Would I have made the same decisions I would have normally? Would it have affected my personality? Would I actually be able to have friends? Maybe more than friends? One things for sure though, I'm going to find out. However, what will I do? Would I stay in Equestria, or would I go back home?
1. Unusual Beginnings

**_Hello Everypony! Josh here! Welcome to the start of my new story! :D_**

**_This is my first story for My Little Pony. I was converted to a Brony recently by my good friend KovuTheLion15. Thanks Kovu. :)_**

**_The inspiration I got for writing this story came from one of his stories. But unfortuantly, due to issues which I am not sure I am allowed to discuss, he had to remove the story._**

**_The character I am basing this off of is me. Entirely me. Nothing made up...well, maybe the occasional thing to spice up the story. ;)_**

**_I am also a huge Sci-Fi nerd. Which is the reason why I tend to go into long detailed technical explanations that no one understands. My logic is foolproof. Partly what contributed to this chapters almost 12,000+ words._**

**_This Story is going to start off rated T, but will be moved up to M for future chapters._**

**_And lastly, I apologise for the length of the chapter. I usually only plan my chapters to be around 4,000 - 6,000 words long. This one is around 12,000. I promise I'll make future chapters shorter for your convenience. But not too short. :)_**

**_So, I believe that is all I wanted to say. And with that, off you go!  
_**

**_PLEASE REVIEW! :D_**

* * *

Josh was lying at home, sprawled across the couch, flicking across the TV channels. It was just past midday. You would've thought that a 16 year old guy would be out socialising and generally having a life. But Josh couldn't do this. Josh didn't have many, if not, no friends. Loads of people tell Josh that they'd give anything to have his life. Josh was a semi-professional racing driver at the age of 16! Who wouldn't want that? However, that wasn't the reason Josh didn't have any friends. Josh was actually more known for what he did off track.

Josh was not only a Brony, but also a Trekkie. He was constantly being teased because of these 2 facts. Even his parents teased him. Of course, he knew that at least half the time, they were just yanking his chain, but it still got to him.

He laid his head back and watched the news. He let out a frustrated sigh. Although, the TV suddenly grabbed his attention. 'Hubble Telescope picks up space anomaly heading towards Earth'. He read along the ticker that ran along the bottom of the screen.

His eyes gleamed with interest and he sat up straight, glaring at the screen. He knew that the reporter would eventually get to talking more about it. After he finished what he was currently talking about, which was…Josh forgot. He wasn't really paying attention; he got onto talking about it.

"And is science fiction set to become science fact? It might just be possible. The Hubble Telescope picked up these images of a strange space anomaly heading for Earth."

It showed pictures of the anomaly. It was just the open black of space with a few stars in the background, and a white line with a hint of red through it. It was a very tiny picture.

"Scientists have determined that it will not be visible to the human eye, and this picture has only been able to be obtained through the refraction that has been achieved through its predicted many light years of travel. It is predicted to hit us here in the UK at around 4 30 AM. Although it has been determined that it is not dangerous, residents are being advised to stay indoors."

Josh chuckled as a thought entered his head. "Star Trek: Generations." He whispered to himself.

This space anomaly that had just been described was just like one of the main plot lines on Star Trek: Generations. However, the space anomaly was called the Nexus. The Nexus was an entrance to a different realm where one's thoughts and desires shaper reality. Also, inside the Nexus, time and space are irrelevant. Meaning that if said person was to leave the Nexus, they would have the ability to return to anytime and anyplace they wanted.

The report concluded and Josh turned off the TV. He sighed as he rose to his feet. He decided to at least try and find something constructive to do whilst he was off track.

* * *

_**MEANWHILE IN EQUESTRIA **_

Twilight was studying some new magic which she hoped that she could perform more powerful spells with it. She gathered that it would be a while before she could physically increase the strength, so she decided to reverse the situation and try and optimize the efficiency of her current magic.

"Twilight!" She heard Spike call from upstairs.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "You know where I am." She replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Spike came down the stairs and arrived at her side. Twilight stopped reading and looked at him. He was holding a message in his hands.

"A letter." He replied.

Twilight's horn glowed purple and she picked it out of his hands with her magic. "Thank you." She said to Spike.

As she opened it, seven small golden pieces of paper fell out of it. She managed to catch 3 with her magic, but marginally missed the others. Spike picked them up for her.

She started reading the letter aloud:

"_My Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle,_

_As you probably already know, my birthday is coming up next month. You should find attached in this letter 6 tickets for you, your friends, and plus one guest of your choice for my party._

_I look forward to seeing you!_

_Princess Celestia"_

Twilight had an astonished look on her face. "How did I not know this!" She exclaimed. She started turning the letter over and over to try and find a date. "Next month? That's a little vague. I didn't even know it was her birthday! What am I going to get her for her birthday!" Twilight began to start freaking out a bit.

"You're working on your magic, which is what she's always wanted you to do. Isn't that enough?" Spike asked.

Spike's talking was enough to give Twilight a brainwave. She started smiling uncontrollably. "That's it!" She exclaimed. She put the letter down and turned to Spike. "I'll put on a performance for her with my magic! Thanks Spike!" She said, leaning down and hugging him.

"But I thought you said you-"

He was interrupted by Twilight knocking him slightly as she ran for the door. "I better tell the others. They were probably as in the dark about this as I was." She said as she headed out of the door.

Spike sat there and scratched his head. "You're welcome…?" He said.

Twilight went through Ponyville towards Rarity's shop. She went through the door, but to her surprise, Rarity wasn't there to greet her.

She took a few breaths. "Rarity, you there? It's me, Twilight." She called.

"Oh. Hello Twilight." She heard Rarity's voice coming from upstairs. "I'll be with you in just a moment."

In a few seconds, she came down the starts with a few sheets of fabric over her back. "I'm afraid you caught me at a bad time. I was just in the middle of designing a new dress."

"Oh. Sorry." Twilight replied. "I just came to tell you that it's Princess Celestia's Birthday next month, and she gave me tickets for each one of us. I just came to give you your-"

"Wait," Rarity interrupted, "It's the Princess's birthday NEXT month!"

"Umm…yeah." Twilight replied.

"Why didn't you tell me!" She exclaimed.

"I've only just learnt this too." Twilight replied. "Although it didn't say when about's next month…"

"But…I don't even know what to get her for her birthday…"

"Hm. Why don't you just do what you normally do? Design a dress?"

"But I'm quite sure that Princess Celestia will have lots of dresses. If I were to design her a dress, how would I design it to make it stands out from the rest of the-" Rarity stopped for a second as a thought suddenly crossed her mind "That's it!"

"What's it?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not going to make her a dress. I'm going to make her something simple she can wear everyday! I'm sure she'll appreciate much more."

Twilight raised her right eyebrow in suspicion. "Is the word simple even in your dictionary?" She asked.

"Oh, just wait and see." Rarity said as she headed back upstairs.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. She used her magic to hold one of the tickets out in front of her, knowing Rarity would be back down in a minute to collect it.

Rarity came back down quickly and picked up the ticket. "Thank you!" She said quickly. Then she headed back up.

"You're welcome." Twilight replied at her normal voice volume, even though she knew Rarity wouldn't have heard.

She left Rarity to design whatever it was she had in mind and started heading over to Fluttershy's house.

She arrived at Fluttershy's house and gently knocked on the door. She heard the sound of hooves gently getting louder as they approached the door. Finally, the door opened and revealed the yellow Pegasus. "Oh. H-hello there Twilight." She said in a quiet soft voice.

"Hello Fluttershy." Twilight replied. "I came to tell you something."

"Oh. Do you want to come in?" She asked.

"Oh, no, no, I've got to get around to see the others. I just came to deliver something."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Fluttershy replied.

"I'm here because it's Princess Celestia's Birthday next month. She's having a party and sent us tickets. I was just giving you yours."

"Oh…next month…"

"Yeah, that's what I found strange as well. I only just found out about it through this invitation. It doesn't say when about's next month though. It only says next month. I don't even know how old she is."

"Umm…okay, I guess I'll have to sort something out."

"Fluttershy, you don't need to go through too much trouble. Just seeing us there will probably be good enough for her." Twilight said, even though she was planning a present of her own.

"No, I must have to do something for Princess Celestia."

Twilight sighed. "Just don't go too overboard." She replied. "I guarantee that they'll be other ponies there that won't bring present." Even though she knew that presents were almost guaranteed in Canterlot.

"Um, okay."

Twilight held out a ticket to her with her magic and Fluttershy took it from her. She tucked it underneath her left wing. "Thank you, Twilight." She said.

"That's okay." She replied as she started to turn and head off. "Bye!"

"Bye." Fluttershy said in a quiet voice. Twilight barely heard it as she went off.

She headed into Ponyville to try and find Pinkie Pie. The aroma of baking caught her nose. It smelt very sweet. After following it for a little bit, she knew it was Pinkie's doing.

She found Pinkie baking. "Hey Pinkie!" She said and sniffed the air. "Mmm, what's baking?"

"My new cupcake recipe!"She exclaimed as the oven beeped, signalling that they were ready. "YAY!" Pinkie bounced off the floor and ceiling a few times before coming to a stop and taking them out of the oven.

They looked a nice brown healthy colour. "Wanna try one?" She asked Twilight.

Before Twilight could answer, she picked one out and shoved it in her face. Twilight stepped back a bit and picked it up with her magic.

Twilight took a bite out of it. "Mm, that's good. What did you put in them?"

"Cupcakes!" She replied.

Twilight looked very confused. "…You made cupcakes…with cupcakes…?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie replied. "We had lots of leftovers, so instead of throwing them away, I decided to mix them all together to see what they tasted like."

"…I see…" Twilight reluctantly swallowed. "Did you add anything else to them? They taste a bit tangier than usual."

"Oh, I mixed in some random sodas." Pinkie replied.

"Oh. Right…" Twilight said as she tried to get her head around the ingredients. Trust Pinkie Pie to think of the most random ingredients.

"Um, Pinkie, I came to give you something." Twilight said, holding out the invitation with her magic. "It's an invite to Princess Celestia's Birthday party next month."

Pinkie stopped concentrating on her cupcakes and suddenly froze. She spun her body 90 degrees to her right to face Twilight. Apart from the spinning, she was still completely frozen. However, her eyes did go extremelly large. "Princess Celestia! Birthday! Party!"

Twilight nodded.

Pinkie Pie suddenly exploded with joy and started bouncing off everywhere. "WAHOO! PARTY!" She screamed. But then she suddenly stopped inches away from Twilight. "Did you say it was her birthday?"

"Erm…yeah." Twilight replied.

"So…I have to find her a present?"

"Don't worry about it, Pinkie. I doubt she's expecting anything." Twilight tried to reassure her, but Pinkie was having none of it.

"No, it's her birthday, she deserves a present."

"…Why don't you make her a cake or something?" Twilight suggested.

"THAT'S IT!" Pinkie screamed. "I'll make her the most enormous, tastiest, best-looking cake ever!" She announced.

She hugged Twilight. "Oh, Twilight, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" She said, squeezing harder and harder.

Twilight started choking. "Pinkie…can't…breath…" Pinkie eventually let go and Twilight gasped for breath.

Pinkie noticed that Twilight had been holding out her invite all along. She took it off her. She looked over it a few times then looked at Twilight.

"So how long do I have to work on this?"

"Until next month." Twilight replied. "I know the exact date though. This was as much as a surprise to me as it was to you. I don't even know how old she would be."

Twilight quickly discovered that she was talking to herself as Pinkie was reading through a cookbook. She rolled her eyes. "You're welcome." She said as she headed out the door.

So, the only ones she had to see now was Rainbow Dash and Applejack. She began to walk over to Sweet Apple Acres to find Applejack. She saw her tending to some of the crops closer to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack spotted her before Twilight showed herself. "Why, hey there, Twilight." She said wiping some sweat off her forehead.

"Hello, Applejack." Twilight replied. "I came to give you this." She said, using her magic to give her the invitation.

"What's thet?" She asked as took it in her hoof. "Princess Celestia's Birthday Party?"

Twilight nodded. "The only problem is that I don't know when it is. It says next month, but I don't know when next month."

"How old is she ennyway?" Applejack asked.

"That's another thing I don't know." Twilight replied. "I've only just learnt about it. I've been in the dark on this as much as you have."

"Wal golly, Ah have no idea whut t'git 'er fo' a gift…"

Twilight sighed. She knew that everyone felt inclined to impress the Princess with their gifts, but did they really have to worry about it so much?

Twilight tried to think of an idea for Applejack, but nothing immediately sprung to mind. "Uhh…well, I have to go find Rainbow Dash. I'll catch ya later Applejack."

"Oh, uh, thank ya Twi! See ya later!" Applejack called back as Twlight headed off.

She walked out of Ponyville to try and find Rainbow Dash. She found her on an open area atop a cloud. She looked like she was getting ready to jump. Below her was a reservoir of water. Twilight began to get thoughts of what she was doing.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing!" She called to her.

"Hey Twilight, watch this!" She yelled back.

Rainbow Dash used the cloud as if it were a springboard, jumping off it and then flying 90 degrees straight down. At the very last ragged-edged second, she started to pull up and landed on her hind legs on something that was floating in the water. She started surfing across the reservoir, kicking up water as she did. She sent a big splash of water heading Twilight's way. She tried to avoid it, but just couldn't get out of the way fast enough.

Rainbow Dash slowly came to a halt at the shoreline and hopped off. She picked up quite a bit of water herself. She made her way over to the dripping wet Twilight. Twilight did not look amused.

Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." She said.

Twilight shook her mane to try and get some of the water off. She splashed Rainbow Dash in the process. "Hey!"

"Just a little payback…" Twilight said then winked. "Anyway, I came to give you this." She said, holding out the final invitation with her magic. "It's for Princess Celestia's Birthday next month."

"Ermm…okay…when about's next month?"

Twilight was a little surprised that she didn't start panicking about a gift for Celestia, but she sort of expected that from laid back Rainbow Dash.

She shrugged. "I don't know. The invitation just says next month. I didn't know this until now either."

"Hmmm…thanks, Twilight. Just tell me a more exact date and I'll turn up." Rainbow Dash replied as she flew off and hovered over the lake, realigning the board she was floating on for a second attempt.

Twilight was tempted to bring up the topic of a gift for Celestia, but she had already caused enough panic among the others as to the idea of getting together a decent quality present in under a month. She didn't want to continue that panic with Rainbow Dash.

She sighed and simply said. "You're welcome." And started heading back to the library.

_**LATER THAT EVENING**_

Twilight was fast asleep and tucked up in her bed. Her chest gently expanding and deflating as she breathed. Spike was sleeping in his bed too.

A very faint whistling sound began to play in the background. Twilight stirred a little, but she didn't wake up. She may have opened her eyes without knowing it, but other than that, she was still very much asleep.

A small bright light with a hint of red shone brightly in the sky. It was no thicker than a needle, but it was still quite bright. Because of the way the window was angled, it concentrated its light directly onto Twilight's eyes.

She slowly began to squint them open as she started to awaken. She let out a silent but annoyed groan at being awoken at stupid o'clock.

"What could that be?" She whispered to herself. She climbed out of bed and wobbled to the window, still slightly dazed.

She saw the light in the sky. Her eyes immediately opened wider. "Is that a star?" She asked herself.

Her thoughts were quickly deviated as she noticed it was getting bigger and bigger…

_**MEANWHILE**_

Josh was awoken in the middle of the night because he was feeling slightly queasy. He got that illusion feeling that he was falling in bed. It has happened to him before, so he thought it would go away, but it didn't…

Then it dawned on him. "Am I actually falling?" He asked himself in a whisper.

He tried to get out of bed as quietly as he could, trying not to wake his parents or his brother. He wobbled a little bit from the feeling of falling, but he made it to his window and drew the blinds back. He looked down. There was nothing. His house seemed to be falling. And he saw ground. Coming up fast.

"…Oh shit!" He screamed. He ran out of him room and into his parents. "Mum! Dad! Brace for impact!" He shouted. But no answer responded to him.

He flicked the light switch and it illuminated the room. His parents were not in bed, and the bed was perfectly made. "Mum? Dad?" Josh called, starting to get a little scared.

His scared thoughts and the whereabouts of his parents went away as he suddenly noticed something. "The light came on!" He said to himself. "How the hell did the light come on! We're not connected to electricity or gas, so it shouldn't work…this just gets weirder…"

The falling feeling suddenly caught up for him. He smiled. "It's a dream. Of course it's a dream." He said to himself.

He shrugged. "Better play along with it." He dived underneath the bed and covered his head with his hands and scrunched up into a ball. "All hands, brace for impact!" He shouted as if he was onboard a Starship.

Seconds seemed to get longer and longer up to the imperative moment when he hit the ground. He got tenser and tenser as time went on.

He listened to the air pitch and harmonics. His Grandfather taught him how to make an estimation of his altitude based on the noise the air was making. He could also tell other things from it aswell. Whether he was accelerating or decelerating. Whether he was changing direction. Whether he was turning or pitching. Loads of things. His Grandfather was a RAF Pilot during World War Two, so he knew allot of things and taught them all to Josh.

From what Josh could hear, he could tell that he wasn't turning or pitching, the house was staying incredibly still. However, the wind pitch soon started to change as he hit a barrier of air pressure. He gathered he was at least 7000 feet in the air and descending fast.

He did the final brace for impact and began to say farewell to his dream, as he is about to die, which from his previous experience in his dreams shows he's about to wake up.

All of a sudden, everything stopped moving. All he felt was the equivalent of a gentle prod in the side on impact. How did he survive that fall? Or did he…?

He pulled himself out from underneath the bed and pulled the curtains open.

It was still dark outside, but from the little illumination he could see, he knew exactly where he was. He was in Equestria. He recognised the town of Ponyville in the distance.

"…wow." Was the only word that escaped his mouth.

He noticed a small illumination heading towards him. Someone must have seen him and was coming to investigate.

"Great, I'm getting visitors and I'm almost naked." Josh said to himself.

He quickly dashed into the bathroom to try and make himself look somewhat presentable. He combed his hair with 5 quick evenly spaced brushes across his head, and then ran back to him room. He threw on a pair of jeans and black and grey stripy jumper. He pulled on a black pair of socks and then snuck down the stairs, trying not to give any indication that he was in.

He put on a white pair of shoes and snuck around to the dining room, which was the room right next to the entrance hall, so he got a good view of whoever was approaching.

He could see the illumination through the blinds. Whoever was coming to see him was getting closer and closer. He pinned himself along the floor and slid along the ground. Once he reached the window sill, he slowly lifted the blinds up just enough for him to peak out of it without anyone noticing him. He saw a glowing purple orb. It was illuminating some of the surroundings as well. As soon as his eyes focused in, he knew who it was. It was Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.

He pulled his head away from the window and retreated back into the main hall. Whilst he pulled a jacket on, he was also computing a ton of other questions in his mind.

He began turning the key to unlock the front door. Twilight's ears pricked up as she heard the strange noise. She looked at the door.

Josh finished unlocking the door and yanked it open. Twilight jumped as it swung open.

There, inside the doorway, stood a strange figure. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It looked to be a tiny bit taller than her. About half a head maybe. And it walked upon 2 legs instead of all 4. Its other 2 just dangling at its side.

She slowly approached it, coming up the pathway between 2 box looking things on wheels.

Josh saw Twilight coming towards her. She stepped down onto the porch. Twilight froze as she saw Josh walk.

They looked at each other face to face. "Hello." Josh said. He wasn't showing any signs of shyness or nervousness. Although, he did struggle for words allot of the time, so he just said whatever came to tongue first.

Twilight took a deep breath. "Hello." She replied back. "Who are you?"

Josh took another stepped forward. Twilight moved her hind legs slightly back. "My name is Josh." He said. "Do you want to come in and continue this conversation inside? It's awfully dark and cold out here."

Twilight listened carefully to his every word. He spoke in a similar accent to Rarity. Although a lot stronger. She wondered whether it was a wise idea to take him up on his offer to come into his house or not. She didn't like the idea of entering the house of someone she only just met. However, she didn't want to start a bad relationship which could also affect his attitude towards other ponies.

"…If that's allright." She replied. "I would hate to be a bother."

"Nonsense." He replied. "Come right on in Miss T-…Erm, Miss…" Josh almost let her name roll off his tongue, but he didn't want to reveal that he knew who she was already. He didn't want to arouse suspicion. Also, he didn't know at which timeframe he arrived in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic universe in. If they knew that he knew what was going to happen in the future, he could jeopardise the future and change it. He'd watched enough Sci-fi movies to know that.

"Twilight." The single word rolled off her tongue. "Twilight Sparkle." She added.

Josh nodded in acknowledgement and stepped to the side, revealing the light coming from inside the house. "Come on in, Miss Twilight Sparkle." He said.

Twilight took a deep breath and slowly started walking forwards. She took another look at him as he passed. He didn't seem to have any fur growing on his body apart from on top of his head. She gathered that it why he wore these clothes over all his body. She imagined what she'd feel like without fur. Not only would she be naked, but very cold.

She stepped up the small step into the house. It seemed quite nice. It was very warm and welcoming.

Josh stepped back in and closed the door behind him. He took his jacket off and hung it on top of the banister.

"Go through to that room straight ahead of you." Josh said.

Twilight nodded in acknowledgement and slowly moved towards the room. Josh caught up with her and walked by her side. "Can I offer you anything to drink?" He asked.

Twilight wouldn't have normally accepted a drink anyway, but she felt even more inclined to decline his offer seeing how she didn't fully trust him. "No thank you." She replied. "I don't like drinking this late. It…messes with me whilst I sleep."

"I hear ya on that." Josh replied as they entered his living room. "Take a seat." He said. Josh took up position on the couch at the far end of the room. Twilight sat down next to him.

Twilight felt it was going to be now or never to start talking; otherwise she probably wouldn't get another opportunity to speak. "So who are you Josh? Or more to the point, what are you?"

Josh cleared his throat. "I am a Human." He replied. "I don't know how I got here. I thought I was dreaming. I was asleep at one point, and then I was woken because I had a weird sickish feeling, like I was falling. I looked out the window, and I was falling. I got ready to die, as I would've never survived the impact, but somehow I did. And my house is undamaged. But what's even stranger is that I'm still somehow connected to electricity, water, and gas supplies. When I regained my composure, I looked out the window to see that I was nowhere near where I was. I am somewhere far away from where I come from. I saw that little town in the distance."

"That would be Ponyville." Twilight replied.

"Hm. Ponyville…" Josh said to himself. He was trying to make himself appear as anonymous as possible. Like he didn't know anything about the land he was in.

He sighed. "I guess I should start looking for a way to get back since I'm never gonna get back to sleep now." Josh said. He got up and stretched.

"If you say so. I'll come back and check on you tomorrow. I'm too tired to help. Sorry."

"Okie dokie then." Josh said and smiled. He began walking towards the front door. Twilight followed.

He opened the door and let Twilight out. "Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow." Josh said.

"Yeah, if I don't oversleep." Twilight said.

"It's allright. I'm not usually out of bed 'till about 10 AM anyway." Josh replied.

Twilight didn't respond as she started heading back.

Josh closed the door and looked back. He scratched his head. "Well, where do I start…?" He asked himself. "…And do I even want to go back."

_**THE NEXT MORNING**_

The light began to break through the clouds. Twilight's eyes slowly opened and she let out a groan as she rolled over to her over side.

"So what did you get up to last night?" Spike said in a concerned tone that carried over to his facial expression.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at Spike. She bought herself up and sat on the edge of her bed. "Spike, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, so I'm just gonna have to show you."

Twilight went to walk off to get herself cleaned up but Spike stopped her. "Try me." He said.

Twilight took a deep breath and quickly compiled an answer in her head. "There's an alien from an alternate reality just outside of Ponyville and he has no idea how he got here and he's trying to get back. I said I'd help him."

Spike looked confused. He raised an eyebrow and scratched the back of his head. He shrugged. "You were right; I'll believe it when I see it." He replied.

Twilight walked into the bathroom and cleaned herself up. Once she was ready, Spike hopped on her back and they headed off towards Josh's house on the outskirts of Ponyville.

On the way there, Twilight thought she could hear someone calling her name. It was very faint. She looked to the left, then to the right. She couldn't determine where it was coming from, so she just ignored it as if it was her mind playing tricks on her.

It got a tad louder, but she still chose to ignore it. Then when it became crystal clear but still quiet, she knew she wasn't hearing things.

She stopped and looked around. When she looked behind her, she sawFluttershy walking towards her.

"Oh hi, Fluttershy. Didn't hear you there." Twilight said to her.

"Oh, that's allright." She replied. "I was just wondering…I was waiting for you to come to my house to hear the new song I've been practicing with my songbird choir…has there been a change of plan?"

Twilight's eyes went wide as memories rushed back to her. "…Oh damn," she said and facehoofed, "I'm sorry Fluttershy, I completely forgot after what happened last night." She confessed.

"Oh…okay…what happened last night…oh, sorry, am I intruding?"

"No, no. You can come along if you want. It's quite amazing actually. I think you'll enjoy it."

"Umm…if that is okay. I mean, I wouldn't want to be a bother or get in the way…"

"I'm sure he'll be fine about it."

"He? Who's he?"

Twilight shook her head. "You've got to see it to believe it." She replied.

The 2 ponies and the dragon walked side by side as they headed towards the outskirts of Ponyville. Eventually, the house came into view. "I've never seen that house before." Fluttershy said.

"Neither had I until last night." Twilight replied.

They walked up to Josh's front door and knocked on it. They heard some sort of noise coming from inside. It had some sort of tune to it, like music.

They looked around his house. He had allot of metal things on wheels that they didn't understand. He had 2 silver ones on the front bit outside his front door. The one on the left kind of got bigger at the back. But the one on the right was sort of rectangular shaped with a large bit sticking out the top of it.

To the far left was one that looked like the big silver one, but it was a lightish green colour and was a bit smaller. And to the far right was a blue one that kinda had a little burst of size in the middle and then swooped down at the back.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of something moving. They looked to the right and saw a large blue door moving upwards. Once it had risen up, Josh stepped outside. The noise had increased in volume now. It was obviously coming from inside Josh's house. He smiled. "Why hello there Twilight." He said. He noticed Spike and Fluttershy. "I see you bought some friends."

Fluttershy and Spike had astonished looks on their faces. They hadn't seen anything like him before.

"Wow, what are you!" Spike asked, jumping off Twilight's back.

Josh looked at him. "I am a Human." He replied. "And you appear to be a Dragon, am I correct? What is your name?" He asked, trying to keep his knowledge of them to a bare minimum to try and not arouse any suspicions.

"Uh, yeah, yeah I am." Spike replied. "My names Spike. How did you know I was a Dragon?"

"We have Dragon's where I come from too." Josh replied. "However, they are just mythical. Made up. Only in stories."

"Huh…! So what's your saying is…that…you're from another world?"

Josh chuckled, although a little irritated. He was going to say hello to Fluttershy, but Spike kept throwing questions at him.

"Sort of," Josh replied, "I'll explain that in a minute."

He turned to Fluttershy. "And who do we have here?" He asked her softly.

"Uhh…I-I-…hy."

"Sorry, couldn't here you." Josh replied, positioning his head a little closer to her to try and hear her better.

"I-I'm Fl…shy."

"Didn't quite hear that." He said.

"Her names Fluttershy." Twilight finally said.

"Well hi there, Fluttershy." Josh said.

She nodded a few times, not making eye contact.

"Come on through." Josh said as he signalled with his hand for them to follow him.

They walked through the big door. Inside it was a fairly dull room. There was various things spread around it, and 2 more of those metal boxes on wheels. One of them was orange and was kinda curvy, the other was white with a blue bit along the bottom and this one looked very different to the others. The wheels were not protected by anything. They were just exposed. And there was a big hole in the middle of it.

The rest of the room had lots of other things around that the 3 of them didn't know what they where or what they did.

"So," Josh began. They had made it to the back of the room. Josh sat in a chair on wheels and the others looked at him. "I've come up with some theories about how I got here."

"Okay, do you want us to help you narrow them down?"

"Way ahead of ya on that one, Twilight." He replied. "I've got it all figured out down to this one option. The others are irrelevant."

"The other options? I don't know what they are."

"They are impossible, that's what they are." Josh replied. "If you remove the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Twilight sighed. "I can understand that. Can you just hear my option?"

"You had an idea?" Josh said, somewhat surprised.

Twilight nodded.

"Okay, fire away." He said.

She took a deep breath. "If some sort of magic anomo-"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm gonna stop you right there." Josh interrupted. "Magic doesn't exist where I come from. Only in stories."

"Oh…well, that throws my theory out the window…." Twilight replied.

"Not to worry. It was a good thought though." Josh said. He couldn't help but tell Fluttershy was looking him in the eye.

He looked back at her. "Is there something wrong?" He asked.

Fluttershy flinched as he spoke to her. "Oh…um…no. Sorry. It's just…you look…umm…tired…I was wondering if…well…you'd been…umm…up all night…"

Josh smiled. "I have. I had a quick nap or 2, but other than that, I've been up all night."

"And you don't feel tired?" Twilight asked.

Josh shook his head. "I have a high level of endurance. I could go on for longer. Anyway, my theory."

He wheeled the chair over to his desk. "On the day that I arrived here, a strange anomaly was passing through space. I believe that is what sent me here."

Twilight's eyes widened. "You're saying that everyone else in the land that you come from is around here somewhere."

"No, just me. I believe I was at the epicentre of the anomaly. Hence the reason I was the only one that got thrown here."

He rose from his chair. "Come. You have to see this for yourselves." He led then through his house and out his back door into his back garden. There, at the very far wall, was a strange blue circle floating in midair.

"What is that thing!" Twilight asked, astonished.

"That, my Ponies and Dragon, is what I call the Nexus." Josh said. He took them across the patio and up the steps onto his garden lawn. They slowly made their way towards it until they were only standing about 3 meters away.

"So, how did this get you here? What is a Nexus anyway?" Twilight asked.

"Theory states that the Nexus is a place where ones thoughts and desires shape reality." Josh began. "But I don't believe that all that is written about the Nexus is true. For example, my first point, this is all real, isn't it? You are all real? I mean, if I touch you, my hand doesn't go straight through."

Josh stroked his hand across Twilight's back to show his point. Her fur felt so soft. Twilight found the scratch she was getting quite pleasurable, but she quickly disregarded it as she had to focus at the task at hand.

"And my other point, if the records are true and my thoughts and desires can change reality, then why can't I just change things at my discretion?" Josh held his hand out and snapped his fingers 4 times to show his point. "Nothing."

"…Well…can you explain what that thing there is?" Twilight asked.

"I believe it is some sort of wormhole through the Nexus. Time and space are irrelevant in the Nexus, meaning I can go back to any time and any place I want. If I go through that now, I'll go right back to my reality."

"Then why don't you?" Twilight asked, although she didn't want him to leave. He was a really interesting character. Very knowledgeable. She wanted him to stay. She thought she could learn more off him.

"Because I want to find out how to control this Nexus. This is a subspace distortion I'm talking about. One wrong move and I might rip the fabric of time and space open, killing us all."

"…Erm…apart from the killing us all part, could you explain the rest in English please?"

"Basically, a massive black hole that will swallow every reality." Josh summed up.

"Oh no. That's bad. That's very bad." Fluttershy said.

"Indeed it is." Josh replied.

"But this Nexus is moving right? How comes this wormhole is still here then?" Asked Twilight.

"That is what I'm about to explain to you. Along with a couple of other things." Josh replied.

He took a deep breath. "Whatever happened to the Nexus, I believe it got reflected off something. Whatever that something was, I do not know. All I know is that, due to that reflection, the resulting force was strong enough to push me into this reality.

As for why this wormhole is here? Well, I think that was kick-started by the reflection itself. At the time this was all happening, the moon was directly above my house. I think the reflection may have directly rebounded the Nexus up. Right into the Moon. I know that you probably already know this, but for logics sake, I will give you a memory jogger. Energy is always either reflected back, absorbed, or goes through. I think that a large proportion of the energy got absorbed by the Moon. The second largest proportion got reflected off the Moon and back at Earth. The rest of it went through. Obviously, that energy will travel towards the epicentre. When it reached the epicentre, it simply rebounded of that reflective something again. I think that the energy build up, combined with the gravity of the Earth and the Moon, has created a massive gravity-well field in which this wormhole was formed. Quite lucky that it formed at the speed it did too. If it formed too fast, it would've formed a black hole and we wouldn't be standing here right now."

Twilight was just speechless. She had never had to process this amount of information before. She tried to make some sense of it all as she thought back to what Josh said earlier. "So, you said it might be possible to control this wormhole thing?"

"I believe so, yes. But I don't have the technology to control it with. It doesn't exist in my reality, and it probably doesn't exist here."

"..Ah…that might be a problem…" Twilight said.

"You're telling me…" Josh replied. "I haven't a clue where to start…"

Twilight was happy that, for once, they were on a level playing field. Now she wasn't the only one who was clueless.

"The only thing I could think of was send a bit of energy through and see what happens." Josh said.

"Hm. You could try that." Twilight replied.

"Yeah, I think I will." Josh replied. "But not right now. I'm tired. I'm gonna get some rest, you come back and meet me at around 2 O'clock." Josh replied.

"Okay." Twilight replied.

Josh showed them to the door. When they left, he started formulating a plan in his mind as he headed for the living room.

He hopped onto the couch and sprawled himself out across it. He picked up the TV remote and flicked it on. All he got back was static.

He sighed. "Water supply, electricity supply, gas supply, but not fucking TV signal. Typical."

He switched it off and sat up. He sighed again and got up and headed upstairs. He decided to take a shower.

After he got showered and changed, he sat on his bed. He shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do. Might as well see what happens when I put a few currents of electricity through that wormhole."

He headed downstairs into the garage which he took Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike through. There was a small box sticking out of the wall on the front end. Josh walked over to it and opened it. Inside, there was loads of buttons and switches on the console.

Josh started flicking all the switches down. As he did, parts of the house suddenly went dark. When he switched them all off, he pulled down and much larger switch. There was a small clicking sound coming from behind the console, and all the lights that were once green had turned red.

He walked over to his desk and picked up a screwdriver. He then walked back to the console and undid 4 screws at the top of it. He pulled it off and placed it by his side. Behind it, there was lots of long, thick conduits which had some L-shaped brackets at the top of them. Josh removed the brackets and put them by his side.

He stopped and started to think about the next phase. He needed to somehow get the power from here to his back garden. However, he didn't know how to transfer it. He needed either some very long wires, or something to store it in, like a battery.

Then he remembered, he had tons up in his loft. Back when his parents were building the house, Josh was only a few weeks old, maybe not even that, but they had plenty of materials left over when they finished. They stored it all in the loft. His Dad said about throwing it out soon, but never got around to it.

He went to the top of the stares where there was a small rectangle in the wall. Josh stood on tiptoes and pushed it open. He then grabbed a metal pole that was sitting just in the opening. Using it, he pulled a ladder down onto the floor. He then climbed up the ladder into the loft. His loft was so full of crap that he didn't know where to start.

He hit a switch to turn a light on, but then he remembered, he cut the power to his house.

He sighed. "Yeah. Sounds just like something I would do…" He said to himself.

He looked ahead and managed to vaguely make out that it was a few of his old computers and various other bits and bobs. He saw some of his old toys from when he was a kid just past that.

He then turned around to look down the other end of the narrow space. He found the Christmas decorations, and just behind those, there sat exactly what he was looking for. Power lines.

He walked over to the wound up pile of cable and tried to pick it up. However, he didn't get a proper grip, and they weighed allot more than he expected, so he dropped them.

"Jesus Christ there must at least 100 meters in that roll!"

Josh wrapped both of his arms around it and pulled it up, grunting under the strain. He pulled it over to the gap that led to the landing and dropped it down. It landed with a loud thud. Josh breathed heavily, still amazed by the weight of those things.

He hopped down and pulled them up onto their side. Since they were wound up into a circular wheel shape, he was going to roll them down the stairs. He placed them the right way round, so that the thick cable wouldn't unravel, and then pushed them off down the stairs. He didn't bother trying to control them, because he knew that if he tried, they would've pulled him instead of him pulling them, and he would've been crushed.

They landed at the bottom of the stairs with a thud, shaking all the walls. Josh walked down the stairs and rolled them into the garage. Once he had manoeuvred them all through the crap he had in his garage, he left them next to the power control box. He counted how many power connections he had available to him. He counted 5 Ringmains.

**(A/N: I don't know how it works over in the USA or any other countries, but I know it's us over here in the UK that primarily use the Ringmain system. If you don't understand, don't worry about it. Basically, they are independent power supplies. It's a little complicated, so I'm not gonna go into too much detail. Besides, I know you want to read the story ;) )**

He needed to cut this cable to size. He didn't have the exact tool for the job, but it'll have to do.

He started heading to his back garden, but then his stomach started rumbling. "I guess I should eat something." Josh said with a chuckle.

Josh headed into the kitchen and placed a saucepan on the stove. He set it to maximum and got a tin of tomato soup out of the cabinet beneath him to his left. He then proceeded back into his back garden.

He went into his shed and got a pair of large clippers out. They were capable of cutting anything up to 6 inches thick. They were primarily used on trees, but Josh didn't have wire strippers large enough to use on mainline power supply cable.

He went back to the garage and started trying to work out how long he needed to cut the cable. "It's about 15 meters from here to my back garden. I'll just 17 just so I have some safety and some slack." He formulated.

He measured out 17 meters and cut the cable with the cutters. It took a bit of persuading to get through, but it did in the end.

He jumped as he heard someone knocking on the garage door.

"Is it really 2 PM already!" He asked himself. He didn't have a clock in the garage, and he didn't have his computer turned on to check the time. "I should really get a watch…"

He walked to the front of the garage and was just about to hit the button to raise up the door, but then he heard some voices mentioning his name. There was more aswell. Twilight probably bought the rest of her friends along.

"So you say he calls himself a Human?" Josh recognised Rarity's voice.

"Yes. And he is extremely smart. At times he puts me to shame." Twilight replied.

Josh smiled and blushed slightly. No one had ever complimented him on his intelligence before. "And they called me crazy…" He said to himself.

Josh hit the button and the door started rising up. Slowly, it revealed all the ponies. "Welcome back, Twilight." He said, smiled, and nodded. He then looked at Fluttershy. "Fluttershy." He said, smiling and nodding again. Fluttershy smiled sheepishly in response.

"And you must be…Twilight's friends." He said to the others.

"Yes, yes, yep-a-de-do-dah we are!" The pink pony replied, bouncing towards Josh and pulling his right hand towards her with her hoof. "I'm Pinkie Pie." She said, shaking Josh's hand. Josh was having difficulty keeping up with her.

"Hello there, Pinkie Pie. As I'm sure Twilight told you, I'm Josh."

"She sure did!" Pinkie replied. Looking up at him. "Wow, you're tall." She said, bouncing up and down trying to match his height.

"I'm only about 2 feet taller than you." Josh replied, even though he knew that was quite a substantial difference.

"Oh wow, there are more of those things on wheels in here! Look, that one has no roof!" She bounced over to it. "Don't you think it should have a roof, because if it started raining, then you'd get wet, and that's bad."

"They're not designed to have roofs." Josh said. "Other cars do though. These open wheelers don't."

"Why are they called open wheel? Their wheels aren't open, because if they were open, they'd just collapse and they wouldn't work."

She looked around the front right wheel of Josh's car. "Hey, I found a gap! So it is an open wheel!" She poked her head down the space between the suspension and the brake calliper. "Heeeeeeeeelooooooo! Anyone in here!"

Josh flung a concerned look at Twilight. Twilight smiled in return. "That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." She said.

"Ah." Josh said and nodded.

"Hey, hey, I need to throw you a party, Josh!" Pinkie pie announced, bring her head out.

"A party?"

"yeah! I throw a party for every new Pony in Ponyville…! Or in your case, Human!"

"…Well, I appreciate the thought, and would happily attend if you were to throw it, but I really think-"

"Great!" Pinkie Pie interrupted him. "You can meet all the other Ponies then!"

Twilight approached Josh. "So, Josh, have you started working on-"

"So what are these things anyway?" The cyan coloured Pony asked.

Josh recognised it as Rainbow Dash, but he kept up his incognito display to prevent arousing suspicion. "These? Back where I come from they are called cars. I race them." Josh said.

Rainbow Dash smiled. "All I care about there was the word race." She flew over the car and landed next to Josh. "Names Rainbow Dash. Probably the best flyer in all of Equestria."

"You're the only flyer I know in Equestria." Josh replied. He couldn't take his eyes off her wings. "Wings?"

"What, these old things?" Rainbow Dash extended them.

"Yeah. They're nice." Josh replied. "May I…stroke them?"

Rainbow Dash didn't look amused. "Just be gentle." She replied.

"Thank you." Josh said as he bought out his right hand. He placed it at the base of her left wing and slowly ran his hand up it. "It's so soft for feathers."

"Well I do have to keep them in top condition. Otherwise they wouldn't be up to the task of doing all the aerobatics I do."

Josh finished touching her wings and put his hand in his pocket. "But enough about me, I wanna talk about you. You say you race these?"

"Yep." Josh replied. "This one is the fastest. It does about 170 miles per hour flatout with the right setup."

"My friend," Rainbow dash grabbed him around the waist with her front left leg, "I think we are gonna get on just fine…" She said with a smile.

"Glad to hear it." Josh replied.

"So anyway, as I was trying to say earlier," Twilight started talking, but Josh's attention was drawn by a pony with a white coat and a purple mane and tail standing at the entrance. "Are you not coming in?" Josh asked, interrupting Twilight.

"I'm NOT coming in there! It's too dirty!" She said.

"It's not that bad. Just be careful what you touch." Josh replied.

"What is that black patch over there?"

"That?" Josh said, looking where she was looking, "that's just dried up oil. It won't harm you."

Josh walked over and knelt down to it. He rubbed his hand over the patch and looked at it. Nothing came up on his hand. "See. Nothing." He presented his hand to her and she flinched.

"Eww! Get it away from me! Please, wash your hands!"

"I just had a shower." Josh replied. "I've been working though."

"Whatever, I'm not coming through." She said.

Josh sighed. "Allright, let's try this." He walked outside the garage and round to the front door. He opened it. "Walk through the hall and come through the first door on your right. That one there." He said and pointed. "Can you do that?"

"I should be able to…" She replied.

"Good. I'm Josh by the way, in case you didn't pick up on any of that conversation and Twilight didn't tell you."

"Twilight informed me earlier of your name, and I was all ears when you were talking. My name is Rarity."

She started heading through the door.

"Pleasure to meet you, Rarity." Josh replied as she headed through the door.

Josh walked back into the garage. "Sorry, Twilight, you were saying?"

"I was just going to ask how you were coming along with your idea."

"Oh right. Going slowly, but getting there." Josh replied.

Rarity came through the door. However, she just stood in the doorway, still not coming into the garage. "Were you cooking something Josh? Because there appears to be steam coming out of what appears to be the kitchen."

Pinkie Pie sniffed the air. "Mmmm, I love tomato soup!"

"…Ohh crap." Josh said. He dashed into the kitchen and turned the stove off. The soup was bubbling hot. Josh got a teaspoon out of the draw below him and took a small bit off the surface. He tasted it and breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew. Didn't burn."

"If yer a bit busy Josh, ah can take on over th' cookin' if ya want." A pony asked.

Josh looked behind him to find an orange Pony standing next to him. "Why thank you…Erm…"

"Applejack."

"Applejack. Thanks Applejack, you a lifesaver. Well, lunch saver."

She smiled and took over from Josh. Josh looked at the other Ponies. "I was gonna have some tomato soup for lunch. Can I offer you any?"

"You don't have too, Josh. I mean, it doesn't look like there's that much. That looks like only enough for about 2 in there." Twilight said.

"I've got more tins." Josh said. He opened the cupboard and bought out 2 more tins. "That should be enough." He said. He pulled the ring off them and tipped them in.

"It'll take a tinsey bit longer t'cook now." Applejack said.

"Not to worry. I could use a tinsey bit longer anyway." Josh replied. "Follow me, Ponies."

They went back into the garage. Josh grabbed one end of the cable he just cut. "Someone else grab the other end."

"Me! Me! I'll do it!" Pinkie Pie cried. Before anyone else could answer, she had already grabbed the other end.

"Okay, Pinkie. Now, for the love of God, DON'T move. Just hold that cable on the floor and don't move. Understand."

"Yes-sir-rey!" She replied.

"Good." Josh started pulling the cable through his house and out the back door. He then pulled it up to the wormhole. He had plenty of line left.

"What in the world is that thing?" Rarity asked.

"It's the wormhole I've been talking about." Twilight said.

"Yeah, I still don't get any of that technical jibber-jabber." Rainbow Dash said.

"I'll try to simplify it as we go along, but there's nothing much you need to know at this point in time." Josh said. "Now we need to repeat this process with the cable 4 more times." He said.

After getting all the cables sorted out, Josh now needed something to mount them on. He looked around, but nothing immediately sprung to mind. Then he saw the small fence at the bottom of his garden. He had a set of steps in the middle of the garden. Only 3 high. They were only about a meter wide. The rest of the bank was covered by a small picket fence. Josh remembered that his Dad had some pickets left over from when he put the fence up.

He walked over to the shed and opened the doors. He rummaged around allot, since his shed was full of crap. Eventually, he found a few remaining pickets. He bought out 3. He also bought out a hammer and some duct tape.

He walked over to the wormhole and placed one picket on the right hand side of it. He then hammered it in so it would stay flat. He then duct taped all the wires onto the picket so they were facing in the direction of the wormhole.

He then walked straight in front of the wormhole. When he did that, it enlarged to a few times its size. "When you get close enough to it, the wormhole opens up to allow you to pass through and go to whatever's on the other side."

"What's on the other side?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"On the other side is my world." Josh replied.

"Won't people be looking for you?" Asked Twilight.

Josh shook his head. "I have a theory that since it is highly unstable, the wormhole is getting shuffled around allot, meaning that if you travelled through it, you could end up anywhere. However, it will remain at the same spot back in my world though, because that is where it originated. That is why I want to find a way to control it and not go back through before that. If I do, there may be a chance I cannot return to here. Then I would be stuck."

"Okay. I think I get it, but I'm not up to date with all these wormholes. I've only read about them, and I've never actually seen one. I even began to think they were made up and were just a product of Science-Fiction." Twilight said.

"That's exactly what I thought up until last night." Josh replied.

He knocked the other picket into the ground in the middle of the wormhole. He went to knock the last one in on the left hand side, but then he stopped. He threw the picket away. "Damn, didn't think about that. I need a metal pole for this one because I need it to be magnetically charged for it to work…"

"When we were walking through your house, I saw that broom in the hall was made out of metal. Could you use that?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"I guess I could…" Josh replied. "I'll be right back."

He ran into the hall and grabbed the broom. He was about to run upstairs, but then he saw Pinkie Pie still in the garage. "Hey, Pinkie, you can stop holding them now." Josh called to her.

"Okie dokie! Where are the others?" She asked as she dropped them.

"Outside in the back garden." He replied. "Go find them."

He went upstairs into his room. He then grabbed a magnet off his desk and ran back downstairs.

He ran back into the kitchen and started grabbing fridge magnets and magnets off the notice board."Ya'll right?" Asked Applejack.

"Yeah, just fine." He replied and smiled.

"Ya Shure? Ya'll were rushin' aroun' quite a bit up there an' through here."

"yeah, I'm fine. I just like to do things quickly."

She shrugged. "sueyt yo'seff. Soups ready enny minute now…"

Josh walked back out into the garden and put all the things on the side. He then walked into the shed again. He came back out with a hacksaw.

"What are you doing?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Just cutting this broom down to size." Josh replied.

He cut the broom about halfway. He didn't need it to be as big as it was, so he decided to cut a little bit off to make it easier to work with.

"What's all this you bought out?" Asked Twilight.

"Electricity is negatively charged, so I needed something positively charged to try and convince it into the wormhole." Josh said. "I was gonna earth the magnets using the pole, then use the magnets to attract the electricity, hoping that it would be taken by the wormhole and see what happens."

Josh got the duct tape he used earlier and strapped the magnets to the pole. They were attracted to the pole anyway, but he didn't want to take an unnecessary risk by not duct taping them.

He picked up the hammer and knocked the pole as deep into the ground as he felt was necessary.

He headed back into the shed and picked up a multimeter. He set it to the resistance setting and duct taped it around the middle pole.

"What does that do?" Asked Rarity, sort of regretting asking the question, knowing she was about to get a response she didn't understand.

"It's a multimeter. It will help me determine what's going on with the wormhole. Although I'm not sure I'll understand what the figures mean, I made the assumption that resistance might be able to show us how far the wormhole is travelling."

"Oh…I think I understand."

"Yeah, I'll be able to explain it better once I understand." Josh replied.

He did a final check over everything. "Right, that is that all checked. Now all I need to do is go plug it into the electricity."

"Wait a minute. You've had the electricity off the whole time? How comes Applejack is cooking tomato soup on your stove then?" Twilight asked.

"The stove operates on gas, not electricity." Josh replied.

"Ohh…"

"Okay, I need 2 volunteers to stay out here and watch the wormhole." Josh said.

"Oh, oh, oh! Pick me! Pick me! Please, please, please!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping up and down and waving her front legs up in the air.

"Uhh. Sure. Anyone else?"

…

"…Okay, I guess I should be the one to stay. Besides, I'm not going in that filthy room of yours you call a garage." Rarity said.

"Okay, great. The rest of you, follow me."

Josh, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy went into the garage.

"Now just to attach the lines to the power supply." Josh said.

He picked up one of the cables and slowly began to move it into the power line. Suddenly, a jolt of electricity came flying out; knocking Josh back and making him drop the cable. He almost fell over, but he just managed to keep his balance.

Fluttershy screamed and dived behind his car. She squished herself in between the suspension and the side pod and sat there trembling.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Josh said.

He heard faint whines. Twilight signaled with a motion of her head to point to Fluttershy. Josh looked down and saw Fluttershy tucked away. "Hey, come on now. It was only a little bit of electricity."

"B-b-but it s-screamed so l-loud."

"It'll do that. But it can't hurt you unless you get too close to it." Josh looked at his right hand where the electricity got him. The right side of his right was red raw, and all the hairs had been singed off. It stung a little bit, but not much.

"Trust me, Fluttershy. Electricity cannot hurt you unless you come into contact with it." He extended his hand out to help her up. She wrapped her front right leg around his hand and pulled herself out. Josh noticed that she got her wing caught slightly in the suspension frame. "Hold still, Fluttershy, you caught your right wing." He said.

"What?" She looked back and saw it was a bit jammed.

Josh gently slid it around and out of the suspension. Fluttershy was amazed. "That looked really tricky to get out of. How did you know what to do?"

Josh smiled. "I've gotten my arms caught in 'em a few times working on it. You get used to it after a while."

After Josh had helped Fluttershy up, he walked back over to the power box. "Hm. It appears that it didn't like the cable. Maybe I triggered a failsafe system that caused it to do that?"

"I wouldn't know. You know more about this than me." Twilight replied.

"That's a first." Rainbow Dash added.

"Speaking of failsafe's," Josh flicked a switch on the box. Where a green light should've replaced the red one, it turned yellow. "I triggered the overloading failsafe system that is initiated when a circuit is shorting out. It stops it catching on fire."

"That's logical." Twilight replied.

"I need to remove the earthing system. But if I lay so much as a hair on that, I'll get electrocuted."

"Hmmm…I think I might be able to help with that, Josh." Twilight said.

"How so?" Josh asked.

"Just tell me what wire I need to pull, and I'll do the rest." She said as she stepped forward.

"It's the green and yellow stripy one." Josh said. "How you gonna pull them?"

"Watch." Twilight replied. Her horn started glowing with a purple field around it, and the same type of field appeared around the wire.

Josh suddenly knew what she was doing. He knew that was what she was going to do all along. But he couldn't say so in case he got found out. "Don't pull it all the way out. Just pull it out at the top there so I can put it back in later."

"You got it." She replied.

She pulled the wire out with ease and left it dangling over the edge so they could find it easily. "Now, could you do that with the cable so I don't risk being electrocuted?" Asked Josh.

"Certainly." She said. The glowing moved over to the wire, and she slowly moved it into the box. Sparks of electricity joined it. Fluttershy flinched, but didn't move.

The sound of a completed connection was made when the sparking stopped. "That's it. Perfect." Josh said.

They repeated the process for all 5 wires. "Right. Rainbow Dash, I want you and Fluttershy to stay here. I'll shout to you to tell you to flick these switches. Well, I'll try and shout to you, but if you don't quite hear me, Applejack will back me up. Think you can do that?"

She smiled. "What do you take me for? A fool? Of course I can flick a few switches!"

Josh smiled and nodded in return. "Let's go, Twilight."

They headed back out to the garden and to the wormhole. "Okay Rainbow Dash, flick switch one!" Josh shouted.

"Excuse me?" Rarity said.

"Sorry. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are flicking power switches for those cables."

…

Nothing happened.

"Flick number 2, Dash!" Josh shouted.

A few flickers of electricity jumped out of the cables, but not enough to form a stable flow of power. "Flick 3, dash!" Josh shouted.

A large bolt of electricity shot out of the cables and joined to the pole on the opposite side. "That's good." Josh said. He leant forwards to take a look at the multimeter. It wasn't increasing in resistance.

"Flick 'em all, Dash!" Josh shouted.

The bolt increased in size and resistance readings went off the scale. The wormhole enlarged and started spinning rapidly.

Josh counted to 10 in his head and then shouted "cut 'em all off, Dash!"

The power flow began to stop and the wormhole slowly stopped spinning. "Well, now to take a look." He said.

He walked up to it and it enlarged to let him through. However, he only stuck he head through to be on the safe side.

And what he saw on the other side did not impress him one bit…

…

…

* * *

The other's were sat staring hopelessly at Josh's back end as his head was through the wormhole.

"Do you think he's okay?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I think he would have started panicking by now if he wasn't." Rarity said.

A few more seconds passed and Josh pulled his head back through.

"Are you alright? What did you see?" Asked Twilight.

"N-nothin'." Josh replied. And with that, he stormed off.

Applejack came out of the back door. "Soups ready!" She declared.

"Not hungry." Josh mumbled angrily as he forced his way pass her.

He went upstairs and into his room…

* * *

_**Well, whaddya think? PLEASE REVIEW! :D**_

_**PS: Sorry for it being stupidly long. Future chapters will be shorter, I promise. :)**_


	2. Things Just Keep Getting Better

_**Hey there everypony! Welcome to round 2 of my story! :D**_

_**Chapter came out longer than I expected, but meh, what can I say?**_

_**...For once, I actually don't have to say in these A/N. That's a first! XD**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW :D**_

* * *

"What's gotten in t'him?" Asked Applejack.

"I don't know. He just looked through the wormhole, came back out, said he saw nothing, and stormed off." Twilight said.

"Well, he obviously did see something he's not telling them." Rarity said.

"I figured that much out. The point is, what?" Twilight replied.

"Well, only one way to find out!" Pinkie declared as she made a jump for the wormhole.

"No Pinkie!" Twilight said as she used her magic to grab Pinkie by the tail. "First of all, we don't know what kind of damage we'll cause if any of us go through. And secondly…what if Josh saw something embarrassing that he doesn't want us to find out about…?"

"He looked more disappointed and angry than embarrassed." Rarity said.

"Yeah, but what if there's still something over there he doesn't want us to see?" Twilight questioned.

"What's going on out here?" Called Rainbow Dash as she and Fluttershy came out into the garden. "Where's Josh? Did he go through?"

"No, he stormed off somewhere. Something he saw beyond that wormhole ticked him off." Twilight replied.

"What?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"We don't know. We made the assumption he doesn't want us to know." Twilight replied.

"Well, somepony aught 'a go talk t'him." Applejack said.

"I will." Twilight boldly volunteered. "I'll try and see what's up with him."

She slowly made her way into the house. She gathered he might have gone up the stairs, so that's where she went.

As she approached the top of the stairs, a small room was in front of her. However, she didn't know its purpose, and Josh wasn't in it, so she had little interest.

She looked to the right. She saw a bathroom at the far end, and another room. There was another door on the right hand side, but it was closed.

She looked to her left. She saw a room on the far end with its door open, and another room on the right hand side with its door closed. She decided it would be best to check out the room with the open door first, as it would be easier to maintain a low profile.

She slowly approached the open door and peaked inside. She saw Josh faced to the wall in a recliner chair. The room was a pretty typical bedroom. It had a bed, a desk at the side, next to a bookshelf and a chest of drawers. Around the walls were various posters. There was also various shapes around the room. They looked very peculiar...were they...toys...? Nah! Josh is too old to play with toys.

"…Josh…are you allright…?"

"At this moment in time, yes." He replied with anger in his voice.

Twilight pieced together what he just said and coupled it with what she saw '…at this moment in TIME…I think I get it…' she started to formulate an idea of what just happened.

She inhaled deeply. "What did you see on the other side?" she asked.

Josh sighed. He pushed off the wall with his feet and rotated the chair to face her. He also moved it into a less reclined position.

"I saw…myself…" He began.

"…Riiiiight…how much later?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't get to look at a calendar, but I'd say I looked to be about 30 years old…"

"mmhmm…sooo…what disappointed you?"

"I was in exactly the same position I was now." Josh replied. "I was doing the same thing I'm doing now each day. I'm still living with my parents and I'm stuck in a dead-end job in IT support. I looked so fat I couldn't see my feet if I looked down…that's not how I pictured my life years from now at all…"

"I see. So, your angry because your life didn't turn out how you expected it?"

"Yes…"

Twilight sighed and walked next to him. "So your life took a little detour from your planned path. So what? Josh, these kind of things are unpredictable, even when you do have a magic portal in your back yard that lets you travel to different places and times. I mean look at me, I know it's gonna be hard for you to understand because you don't know what I'm talking about, but the principle is still the same. Never in a million years did I see myself living in Ponyville, but here I am. And I love it! Josh, your life is whatever you make of what you got."

"…Yeah, I suppose your right…" He perked up a bit. "Besides, now I know what's coming up, I can just change things about myself to try and make future me's life better." He got out of his chair and smiled. "Thanks, Twilight."

"Uhh…you're welcome…" Twilight wasn't entirely convinced that messing with time was a good idea.

They both headed back downstairs. As they headed into the kitchen, everpony's eyes set upon Josh. "I'm sorry for storming off like that. I just saw myself in a crappy future and got pretty…annoyed, to say the least."

"Aw that's allright, Joshy! I'm just glad you're happy again!" Pinkie said.

"Heh. Thanks, Pinkie." Josh replied.

"So are ya still hungry?" Asked Applejack. "So'ry fo' kinda gwine through all ya stuff. ah was lookin' fo' some bowls an' spoons."

"That's fine." Josh replied. "Pour me a bowl."

"Ya got it!" Applejack had a large serving spoon in her mouth. She used it to dig into the soup and pour it into a bunch of bowls she had next to her. She put the big spoon down and put a smaller spoon in the bowl. She then handed it to Josh. "There ya go."

"Thank you, Applejack." Josh replied. He took a mouthful with the spoon. It was very hot, but that was how he liked it.

"So Josh, what's next?" Asked Twilight.

"With the wormhole?" He questioned.

Twilight nodded.

Josh sighed. "Well…there's not really much else I can do. I don't have the technology to accurately control it. Basically, I'm firing blind, so to speak." When the idea of technology came to mind, it started springing ideas into his head.

"If that thing can go forward in time, couldn't you just travel to the future and get the appropriate technology?" Twilight suggested.

"Yes…that is just what I was thinking…" Josh replied.

_'If I can get into a cartoon TV show universe, does that mean I can cross over into other universes aswell?'_ He thought and ate at the same time. _'If I start jumping around fantasy universes, they might get a bit suspicious. I guess I could always come clean with them and tell them the truth, but who knows what type of trouble that might cause…I guess I could just bluff it off as 'another universe' or an alternate reality, but how long will that last until they don't believe that excuse anymore?'_

"I'll have to do some calculations before I try blindly throwing myself into the future again." Josh said. He took the last spoonful of his soup and set the bowl down on the kitchen worktop.

"Yeah, of course." Twilight replied.

"Okie dokie smoky. I'll catch up with you later!" And with what looked like no thought put into it, Pinkie Pie dashed off and away.

"Where's she off to?" Josh asked.

"Ah've got a purdy good idea. But if Ah tell ya, it might ruin th' surprise." Applejack said.

"Ohh…" Josh got a pretty good idea what she was doing. She was probably going to plan that party from him, but since she didn't mention it as she went out the door; she probably wanted it to be a surprise.

"Do you want us to leave you alone to do your calculations, Josh?" Asked twilight.

"Uh, sure." Josh replied. Actually, he could do the calculations off the top of his head. However, he wanted some thinking room, and he saw accepting their request as being much politer than asking them to leave.

The remaining ponies left Josh alone and Josh sat in the armchair in his living room to think.

He shrugged. "I guess I could just travel forward a few hundred years in advanced in my original universe and see what happens…"

With little thought required anymore, he set off to rest until he got word from the ponies. Hell, they didn't even make arrangements of who would meet who and where. He decided he should just turn up whenever.

He was gonna run a few laps on his DIY racing simulator, but then he remembered that he butchered the electronics in his house to run the wormhole.

He sighed. "I need an alternative power source. This is just too inconvenient..." He said to himself.

He went to loiter up in his bedroom. He didn't know how casual or formal this party would be, so he didn't entirely know what to wear.

He decided to go with whatever he thought looked nice and presentable. He took off the T-shirt he was wearing and replaced it with a regular shirt. It was vertically stripy with loads of different shades of blue on it. He did up every button except the top two.

He walked over to his stereo system and switched it on. He plugged in his iPod and set it to shuffle. The music automatically played at the previous volume it was set to, which was quite low because his parents did like him having loud music…but his parents weren't here. He slowly turned the volume knob up until he got a volume was too his liking.

He laid down on his bed and tried to get some sleep. He hadn't had allot of that, so he decided he should get some before his party.

He slowly made his way into a dream…

…

And it was in that dream that an idea came to him. He dreamt back to when he was…he couldn't remember how old he was, but from the memories that appeared in front of him, he looked like he just started middle school.

He remembered teaching himself about electronics. The stuff he wanted to know they didn't teach in school, so he had to learn it himself. With his Dad to help him sometimes.

"Josh! Josh, wake up!" Twilight called. She had found him lying on his bed and he had fallen asleep.

"Huh? What?" Josh blinked his eyes a few times to figure out what was going on.

"How do you turn this noise off!" She said over the sound of the music.

Josh's face brightened up as he knew what she was on about. He walked over to his iPod and switched it off. "And that's not a 'noise'. That, my Pony, is Rock 'n' Roll." He said.

"Whatever, it's a noise to me." She replied _'how can he even call that music? I think that genres been out of fashion for decades...'_ "I know you wanted to be left alone, but I couldn't resist, I really wanted to learn about this and some of the other stuff you know. I won't get in your way, I promise!" She said with a wide smile across her face.

"How did you get in?" Josh asked as he sat himself up on the edge of his bed.

"Oh, you left the door open. I just came in. Hope you don't mind." Twilight replied.

"…Oh yeah. So I did." Josh said. "Anyway, I think I know what to do. The idea came to me in a dream. You kinda interrupted it, but no worries; I still figured it all out."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Not a problem. Follow me and I'll try and explain it all to you."

Josh started walking down the stairs. Twilight followed him. She noticed he was wearing a different shirt the last time she saw him. "New shirt?"

"Huh?" Josh turned a corner into his garage, "oh yeah! I changed it because I thought it looked nicer for this party Pinkie's throwing me."

"Oh, never mind about that. Pinkie's parties are always very casual. Don't wear anything too fancy, otherwise it'll get ruined." Twilight joked.

Josh went to his desk in the garage and pulled one of the drawers open. It was full of electronic components all organised carefully into categories. Josh examined them to see what he could spare to cut apart and show Twilight how they work. "What's that?" He heard Twilight say from behind him.

He looked back and then looked in the direction of Twilight's hoof. She was pointing to his simulator. "Oh, that's a racing simulator I put together myself. It's like a practice tool for when I'm not actually driving. It's quite fun actually. The best part is you can do whatever you want on it, because unlike in real life, if you mess up, it doesn't do any damage."

"I see…so, you do this for fun?" She asked.

"Mostly, yeah." Josh replied.

"Cool. So, what does it contribute to?"

Josh looked confused. "I don't understand what you mean…"

"What does it do for you? How does it make you better? Does it make you money? Do you get any research out of it? Do you-"

Josh gently placed his index and middle finger over her lips to make her stop talking. He knew Twilight was like this. He saw this as an opportunity to possibly change her or maybe at least get her to realise some things. "Don't you ever do anything for fun in Equestria?"

"Fun? Oh, I have plenty of fun! I enjoy reading and studying and learning new things and-"

"Any sports?" Josh interrupted.

"Sports? Why would I waste my time on that?"

"Waste your time? Twi, there's much more to life than letters and numbers. You don't always have to play life by the book. Try doing something fun for once." Josh said, exhaling the remainder of his breath as he finished talking. He began thinking about what he just said. Was he a bit harsh? Did he just offend her? Did he just accidently call her boring bookworm?

"I'm sorry, Josh, but I just don't see the point in sports. Besides, I am doing something fun. Reading is fun. Learning is fun."

"Come on, Twilight, where's your sense of adventure? What gets your adrenalin pumping?"

She shook her head. "Adrenalin will only increase your chance to make mistakes. Why would I want to increase my adrenalin levels unnecessarily?"

"Twilight, in order to advance, mistakes are needed. The more mistakes you make at the beginning, the less likely you are to make them in the future."

He noticed that her eyes had trailed off and were looking at something else behind him. "But sometimes mistakes can be far too costly, can't they?" She said, her eyes still looking at something else.

Josh looked where she was looking. She was looking at a poster he had on the wall above his simulator rig. It was a big picture of a black car with the number 3 on it, and above the picture of the car, was the picture of who she gathered was the driver. The writing along the top said 'in memory of a Legend', and along the bottom it said 'RIP Dale "The Intimidator" Earnhardt. 7-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series Champion. 1951-2001.'

"Was he a sportspony? Er, I mean human."

"In a way, yes. He's a racing driver, like me."

"RIP. Does that stand for rest in peace in your world aswell?"

"Yes…"

"That number along the bottom. Two thousand and one. Is that a measurement of time? Was that his death time?"

Josh sighed. "…Yes…that represents the year."

"And how did he die?" She asked.

"…Well…he started moving down the track, he moved too low, and another car clipped him and he hit the wall."

"Basically, he made a mistake." Twilight replied. "A mistake that cost him his life."

"It wasn't his fault, the car started moving down on its own. He had nothing to do with it! He never would've done that!"

"Oh I see. So, it's whoever put these contraptions together's fault is it? So he lost his life because of someone else mistake?"

Josh was clenching his fist and slightly grinding his teeth. He was teased for being such a huge NASCAR fan back in his world, he wasn't about to let that happen again.

"So it technically is wasting your time, since it shortens your lifespan." Twilight said.

Josh felt like he could just punch something. Or her. But he was too intelligent to let his anger get control of him. He took a big deep breath and backtracked the conversation. Did he maybe kickstart this whole thing by unintentionally calling her boring bookworm who always follows the rule and regulations and does what she's told?

He slowly let out his breath. "…Look…I'm sorry I said you weren't fun. I was just trying to get my point across that some things are more than you make them out to be." He smiled.

She smiled back at him. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just trying to get my point across, like you."

"That's okay, I forgive you." Josh replied. "Anyway, what I was going to show you." He presented the small device in his hand. "It's called a capacitor." He explained. "There are two halves to it. One half hold the positive energy, the other holds the negative. However, what's unique about a capacitor is the way it delivers the energy in it. Instead of giving it out at a constant stream, like you saw earlier, it just throws it all out in one."

"…Like filling a bucket to the top and tipping it over?" she analogised.

"Yeah, exactly like that!" Josh replied. "I think that with a big enough push, I might be able to travel to push the wormhole into an alternative reality, or even, another universe."

Twilight was speechless from astonishment. "Wow" was the only thing that could come out of her mouth.

"But there is one problem." Josh said. "Even if I took all the capacitors I had and combined them all, I still wouldn't even produce a fraction of the power needed."

"Ohh…that is a problem…"

"Although, I thought of an idea." Josh said.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"You could use your magic to generate the power. If you released a big burst of energy all at once, like a capacitor, you might have the same effect."

She smiled. "I like your idea, Josh, but I don't think I'd know what to do. I don't know enough about electricity and how it works to know how to do-"

"Hold that thought!" Josh interrupted. He started rummaging through his drawers again. He knelt down on his knees and started pulling things out of the bottom draw. The bottom draw was mostly full of books and reference sheets. The bigger books he pulled out and put to the side, the smaller ones he just moved around inside the draw so he could get a better look. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, buried underneath a pile of other books at the back of the drawer.

"Here, take this." He presented a book to her labelled 'Technological Innovations from the Eighteenth Century Onwards'.

She picked it up with her magic. "That should get you up to date on everything we know about electricity. You could research that and see if it compatible with a spell of some sort."

"Oh, thank you! I will!" She replied with a big smile on her face.

"Great! Not right now, obviously, but I'm ready whenever you're ready." Josh said. "Now, when's this party?"

"Oh yeah, that's why I came here. Pinkie is gonna be starting your party soon. You might wanna get there. It's a short walk away."

Josh smiled. "Who said anything about walking?" He said.

"…Well, how else are we gonna get there?" She asked.

"Follow me." Josh replied.

He went into the living room and picked up a set of keys. He then waved his arm in the direction of the front door. Twilight followed him out of the door. Josh closed the door behind her and locked it.

He then turned around and pressed a button on the key. The car on the right beeped and yellow lights flashed on it. It was his Dads car. A 2009 Skoda Octavia VRS.

Twilight's eyes widened. "No."

"Oh yeah." Josh replied.

"Can we?" She asked.

"Of course. I don't see any reason why not."

He went down to the passenger side door and opened it. "Please take a seat, Miss Sparkle." Josh said in a gentlemanly voice.

Twilight slowly walked down and peeked into the car. She slowly climbed in, examining the centre console as she did.

Josh closed the door behind her and walked around to the other side. He opened the door and sat down on the chair. He pulled the seat forward slightly and adjusted the mirror to his liking. He placed the key in the ignition and fired up the engine. Twilight jumped slightly.

He pulled his seatbelt down from above his right shoulder and down into the socket just next to the seat. He looked at Twilight. She had watched him do the manoeuvre. "Now you do it." He said.

She looked up at the seatbelt. She merely used her magic to pull it out and put it in the socket. "Ready to go." She said nervously.

He depressed the clutch and took his left hand to the gearstick. He pushed it down and into reverse gear. He had to push it down to get it into reverse. It was a safety feature in the car, so you didn't accidently put it into reverse. He then took his left hand and took the handbrake off.

He looked over his shoulder and out the back window. He ever so slightly laid his foot on the gas and gently bought the clutch up. Once he felt it biting, he held his foot in place. The car slowly started moving backwards, slowly increasing in speed.

Once he felt like he had reversed an adequate distance to turn the car in the right direction, Josh depressed the clutch, took his foot off the gas and onto the brake, shifted to 1st gear and revved it a few times.

He looked over to Twilight and smiled. "Welcome to my world." He said with a large amount of mischief in his voice.

He dropped the clutch and slammed the gas down, causing the front wheels to spin and leave a bald patch on the grass. He turned the wheel to the left 2 times around to point it towards the right direction.

Once he got to about 20 miles per hour, he shifted to 2nd gear. Once he got to 50, he shifted straight to 4th. "So, where about are we going?" Asked Josh.

"A place called Sugarcube Corner." Twilight replied. She was still a bit uneasy about Josh driving. He seemed to know what he was doing, but she was still a little…scared maybe? She'd never been in a car before. "Keep driving towards Ponyville. I'll show you when we get close."

"Okay," Josh replied as he was tapping a few buttons on the centre console. He was cycling through the CD auto changer. His Dad had a few bands and albums that he didn't recognise, but the one he did recognise was Guns 'n' Roses album called Greatest Hits.

He clicked it on and set it to shuffle, by pressing the arrows crossing over in the middle right of the screen.

Twilight's ears pricked up. "What's that? Is it broken?" She spoke quickly.

Josh laughed. "Nah, that's just the speakers playing music. You do have Rock 'n' Roll here don't you."

"…Yeah, I think we do…I just didn't realise it was so…strange sounding."

Josh rolled his eyes. 'Is Rock 'n' Roll out of fashion here aswell!' He thought

.

To his right, Josh saw a line of trees. He recognised them as the trees Rainbow Dash used to practice on in the episode Sonic Rainboom.

He smiled. He dropped it into 3rd and made the turn for the trees. "We've got plenty of time, how about I give you a little demonstration?"

"Huh?" Twilight went wide eyed.

Josh put his foot all the way to the floor and headed towards the tree. "JOSH! TREES!" Twilight screamed.

Josh lined up for braking using as little time and distance as possible. He knew he had a lack of grip on the grass instead of tarmac, but he could easily compensate for it. He precisely applied the brakes as they approached the tree. Twilight gagged as the belt gripped her from the force of slowing down.

Josh performed a manoeuvre known as threshold braking. That meant he applied the brakes to the point of the wheels locking. When he sensed them locking, he gently lifted until they weren't locking, then he pushed them down again. He didn't need to do this in a road car, but it was just natural for him, being a racing driver and all.

Once he got to a certain point, he whipped the wheel to the right. Since the front wheels had the majority of the weight and grip transferred to them from slowing down, the car turned with ease. Once he got a fender in front of the tree, Josh whipped the wheel to the left, causing the car to follow suit. Twilight yelped at the sudden direction change.

Josh weaved between the first few trees normally. Then, coming out of one of the others, he mashed the gas for a little burst of speed. He knew that now he was going faster, he would have to slow down to make the next gap in the trees.

He used a technique called trail braking. This was where he slightly grazed the brakes to make the car slide. Twilight screamed as the car went sideways. "OH CELESTIA! THAT MAKES ME FEEL WEIGHTLESS AND SICK!"

When Josh passed the last tree, he yanked the handbrake up and the car spun around 180 degrees. He depressed the clutch as the car started spinning so the engine wouldn't stall.

He looked over at Twilight and smiled. Twilight was still shaking. "How was that?"

"Y-you're crazy…that was so scary…I think I just…had an accident…"

Josh laughed. "Nah! Heated seats. They do make it feel like that though." He replied. He took his left hand turned the knob on the centre console to turn off Twilight's heated seat. "You should see me in my actual race cars."

"Yeah, the key word there is SEE. That means using my eyes. Meaning I don't want another ride like that."

Josh sighed. He was about to say something, but he didn't want to start another argument with Twilight before a party. "So, I'll just keep heading in this direction."

He released the handbrake and started moving back towards Ponyville. Once he reached the town, he reduced his speed to 20 miles per hour. That was the speed limit around his town, so he thought that this should be the same for safety reasons.

Ponyville wasn't so much a town. The way Josh saw it; it was small enough to be classified as a village. Or maybe the classifications were different here in Equestria. Whatever the reason, the town was smaller than he expected it.

"Go left here. We go past the windmill and we should be there. It's, well, on the corner."

"You don't say?" Josh replied.

Josh drove on down and past the windmill. He saw a small crowd of ponies gathering outside the house on the corner. "There it is." Twilight said. "Looks like a big turnout. Not surprising, since this is technically first contact."

Josh smiled. "Hopefully this first contact will go well…"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Oh, nothing. Mentioning first contact just bought a movie or 2 into my head." Josh replied.

Josh pulled over to the right as much as he could to try and use up as little room as he could. Then he came to a stop and flicked the engine off. He pulled up the handbrake and put the keys in his pocket. "Well, here we go." He said as he opened the door.

Twilight used her magic to pull the handle and open the door. She climbed out in sync with Josh. Josh closed the door then waited to hear a second thud for Twilight's door closing. He could hear ponies calling to him already. Once he heard Twilight's door shut, he pressed the button on the key in his pocket to lock the car.

He saw mixed expressions from the ponies that had gathered to see him. But why should they not have their own reactions? He was the first human they'd ever seen after all.

When Josh got close to them, he said "Hey. I'm Josh. Nice to meet all you ponies."

Before anyone had a chance to react, Pinkie Pie jumped over the entire crowd and grabbed Josh around the neck. However, she only held on for a second then let go. Josh was glad, because she was heavy enough to break his neck if she held on any longer.

"Oh goodie! You're here!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Everypony has been waiting to meet you! Their all super-duper excited about seeing you!"

"I can tell by the huge crowd." Josh replied.

Pinkie turned around and wrapped her tail around Josh's left hand. She then started pulling him through the crowd into Sugarcube Corner.

'I think she forgot that I'm a tad bigger than her...' Josh thought. "Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through! Pardon me! Sorry!" He said as he got dragged through the crowd of ponies.

When they got inside, there were still lots of ponies, but not as many. Pinkie let go of his hand. Josh recognized some of the ponies he had already met. "C'mon, I want you to meet mister and misses Cake! They run this shop!"

Josh followed Pinkie to 2 ponies standing by a table with food and drinks on it. They where organizing it. "Mister and Misses Cake, this is the human I was talking to you about."

Josh waved his right hand slightly. "Hey. I'm Josh."

"How nice to meet you, Dearie." Mrs. Cake replied. "It must have taken you ages to get to here. You must be starving. Please have something to eat. Take anything you want. I would recommend these cupcakes made by our very own Pinkie Pie."

"Believe me, it's a shorter journey than you think…" Josh said. "And thank you." He added as he picked up a cupcake. "I must say you have my utmost appreciation for being able to put this together on very short notice."

"Oh no need to thank us. Pinkie Pie here is the one behind the party." Mr. Cake replied.

"Yep! That's me! Party thrower extraordinaire!" Pinkie added.

Josh took a bite into the cupcake he picked up. There was a sudden rush of flavor all over his tongue. Like each of his individual taste buds was picking up its own flavor.

"These are brilliant, Pinkie!" Josh exclaimed with a slight mouthful. When he swallowed, he felt like he'd swallowed more than he could taste. Like something else was there, but his taste buds didn't pick it up.

Before he could say anything else, He saw a cyan colored blur coming at him from out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey! Josh, Josh, Josh!" He heard in Rainbow Dash's voice.

She skidded to a stop just inches away from Josh. "That thing outside you arrived in? Can it fly? Can you take me for a ride in it? Can you teach me how to use it? Can I show it to the Wonderbolts? Can I-"

Josh placed his index finger on her lips to silence her. "I'll show you later. For now, enjoy the party." Josh replied and smiled.

He looked at Pinkie Pie. "Have you got anything to drink?"

"Right over here!" Rainbow Dash called as she was up the other end of the table. There was lots of bottles and a mix of glasses and plastic cups and mugs. "What's your poison?" She asked. Her hoof hovering over the drinks ready to strike at Josh's command.

Josh chuckled. "Rainbow Dash, you don't have to suck up to me to get me to take you for a drive. I will take you for a drive, I promise."

"I know, I know. I just wanted to be polite that's all." She said with a large smile on her face.

"Yo' bein' polite? Thet'll be th' day…" Applejack replied as she came onto the scene. Along with Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Why hey there, Applejack." Josh said to her. He noticed her hat was on her head at a different angle now. It was sort of tilted across her right ear.

She bought her hoof up and straightened it out a bit. "Was mah hat a li'l funny? Yo' were lookin' at me wif all th' raised eyebrows an' sech is all…"

"Oh no, it was just a bit wonky, but you straightened it out." Josh replied. "Nice hat, if I may add. People pay allot of money for good quality Stetsons back where I come from."

She smiled and blushed a tiny bit at Josh's compliment. No one had ever complimented her on her hat before. Well, maybe a few little times, but not ones that would stick in her memory for too long. "Aw shucks, this hyar ol' thin'?" She took it off and spun it around her right hoof a few times. "Ah've had this thin' fo' a long as Ah can remember…"

She then threw it into the air and it landed perfectly on her head. Without even looking.

"Wow. How did you do that without even looking?"

"Jest practice. Yo' git it eventually."

Before the conversation could move any further, some commotion and the front door caught Josh's eye. A marshmallow colored pony wearing a sort of crimson velvet dress slowly walked through the door. It was Rarity.

"Hey Rarity!" He called.

She flinched. "Get back! Stay away!" She said.

Josh scratched his head. "What's up with her?"

"She's very obsessive over her dresses." Twilight replied.

She was waving her arms to try and get everypony away from her. Eventually, she made it over to them. Behind her, other ponies started to gather around Josh.

"Here you go, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie said presenting a glass with a translucent white liquid in it. She flinched. "Vanilla scotch! Your favorite!"

Rarity's horn glowed with her blue aurora. A semicircular object came out of the front of her dress and she held it against her chest. Josh recognized it. "Is that a…protractor…?"

"Don't even ask…" Twilight replied.

She lined herself up with Pinkie and slowly took the drink offered to her with her magic. "Thank you." She said softly.

"So what did you want to drink again Josh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

'Has she been standing there the entire time?' Josh thought. He didn't know what kind of drinks the ponies had, but seeing how they have scotch, he decided that will do. "I'll have a scotch please." He said.

"Sure…uhhh…which one?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

Josh honestly had no idea of any of the brands in Equestria, so he simply said "surprise me." He held his hand out and looked away in the opposite direction, closing his eyes.

…

"…Okay…here it comes." Rainbow Dash said. Josh felt a glass land in his hands.

"Thank you." He said as he looked at his drink. He bought it to his lips and took a small sip. "Mmm, that's good." He said after he swallowed. He used his other hand to finish off the cupcake he got offered by the Cakes.

'Scotch and cupcakes. Not the weirdest combination I've ever had, I suppose…'

"Do you have alcohol back where you come from Josh?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Ohh yes…" He replied. He'd never been drunk himself, but he'd seen plenty of pictures on Facebook of people's evenings that they'd forgotten. To be honest, the idea of being drunk didn't really appeal to him.

He saw a pony approaching him. She had dark pink fur and 2 different shades of light pink on her mane and tail.

She stood next to Josh and smiled. "Hello Josh. My name is Cheerilee." She spoke in a nice calm, welcoming voice that anyone could love.

"Hello Miss Cheerilee." He replied and smiled, taking a sip from his drink.

"Oh, only colts and fillies call me that. Please. Just Cheerilee is fine."

"Very well." Josh replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I teach at the local school in Ponyville. I was wondering if you would be willing to pay us a visit at some point."

"Of course! I'd be happy to." He replied with a smile.

"Oh thank you. The kids are only a few years old so don't be too…detailed with whatever you talk about please."

He smiled. "Oh don't worry. I've got plenty of experience with kids."

She looked slightly surprised. "You've got kids? That's great! When I first saw you, I never would've thought because you look so young and-"

"Oh, no! I don't have kids! I meant I've got experience talking to them." Josh interrupted. _'Me with children. That'll be the day…'_

"Oh. Right. Sorry, I misunderstood you a little there."

"No worries. So, what time is good for me to talk to your class?"

"Well, if tomorrow is no bother, then can it be tomorrow?"

"I see no problem with that. Tomorrow it is!" Josh replied.

"But Josh, weren't we gonna do some more work on the wormhole tomorrow?" Asked Twilight.

"We've got plenty of time, Twilight. As far as I know, that wormhole isn't going anywhere."

"Oh I wouldn't want to intrude. Please, I'm happy to reschedule." Cheerilee said.

"No, no, tomorrow's fine." Josh said, reassuring her with a smile.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to get in the way of your work."

"Well, it's not like I've got a deadline or anything, so there's always time for interruptions. Trust me." Josh replied.

"If you say so…" Cheerilee replied.

Josh looked at Rarity. "Rarity…if I may ask…what's with the dress? It's very nice, but don't you think it's a little too…posh for a casual party?"

"I appreciated your concern, Josh, but as long as I take the necessary precautions, it won't get ruined." She replied.

"Uhh…very well…" He didn't have the heart to tell her how out of place she looked in the dress.

Suddenly, Spike came charging through the front door with a letter in his hand. "The Princess…replied…" He said through breaths to Twilight.

Twilight picked up the letter with her magic. She didn't read it aloud; she just read it in her mind. But as the expression on her face changed, everypony and Josh got a good idea of what she was reading.

"Josh, this letter is from Princess Celestia, the Monarch of this land. She wants to meet you up in Canterlot. Tomorrow!"

A smile formed across Josh's face. Going to the fanciest place in Equestria and meeting the Princess.

"So do we get to go too!" Asked Rarity before Josh could even reply.

Twilight put a 'well, DUH!' expression on her face. "I guess we should." She replied.

"Oh yes! A day out in Canterlot!" She exclaimed.

"So what time tomorrow?" Asked Josh.

"It doesn't say…" Twilight replied. "Through the way she words it, it kinda gives the expression that she doesn't mind what time. She ends with 'I'll be waiting for you'…"

"All the more reason to get there early!" Rarity said.

"But what are you gonna tell her Josh?" Asked Twilight.

He smiled. "The truth." He said simply. "Problem?"

"Oh, no, no…" Twilight replied. She was thinking about Princess Celestia's Birthday party. She didn't know the date, so she thought that she could use Josh to get the date from here, since she knows that he doesn't know, so she might tell him whilst they are all in earshot. _'I think I'll just keep quiet and hope for the best. He seems like the kind of character that presses matters until they snap, so he might make a big deal out of it. I don't want him to do that.'_ She thought.

Josh downed the remainder of his drink and set the glass down on the side. "I shouldn't drink anymore if I've got to meet a Monarch tomorrow." He said. He turned to Cheerilee. "I'm sorry, but we might have to reschedule the little class visit to some other time. How about the day after tomorrow?"

Cheerilee shrugged. "That's fine by me if it's good for you." She replied.

"Perfect." He said and smiled.

He suddenly saw a grey Pony with a blond mane skid to a stop in front of him. She bounced off the table to slow herself down. "I came as soon as I could." She said. She had a really bad lisp in her voice.

Josh looked at her yellow eyes. They were…slightly off. He couldn't tell which eye was the lazy one.

"Uh, can I help you?" He asked, already knowing who the Pony was, but didn't want to reveal.

"Well I came to see you, actually. But I got the time messed up and so I'm a bit late." She looked at her watch. "I could've sworn I was told 3PM...Darn useless watch I got for my birthday."

Josh looked at her watch from where he was sitting. The time was right, her watch was right; she was just wearing it the wrong way round.

She suddenly started shaking Josh's right hand. "Names Derpy Hooves. I've been wanting to meet you Mr. Josh. You're very strange."

"Oh. Thanks, Derpy…" He replied. "I'll try not to take that offensively." He mumbled.

"Can I get you a drink?" She asked.

"Oh no, I've already had something to drink. I've got to go to Canterlot tomorrow, so I don't wanna be too boozed up." He said with a smile.

"Can I get you a soft drink then?" She asked.

Rainbow Dash tapped Applejack on the shoulder. "Five bits that she drops it." She whispered into her ear.

Applejack smiled. "Yer on!" She whispered back.

Josh overheard their little bet. He decided that he should probably go through with what Derpy was offering them for their sake. "I'll have a glass of water." He told her.

"Okay. Comin' right up!" She said and smiled. She took Josh's already used glass and then went over to the drinks table. She picked up a glass jug of water and then lined up Josh's glass with it. She poured it, but the glass fell over. She yelped a bit in surprise and got a few napkins off the side to dry it up. She then tried pouring again, but when she poured it, the glass kept moving forwards away from the water. She stopped and moved it back, but when she started pouring again, the same thing happened.

She was getting more and more frustrated as she poured more, not seeing that she needed to hold the glass and pour at the same time. Josh snickered at little grey pony. When she had finally finished, she held it up and smiled at Josh. "One glass of water coming right up!" She said.

She started walking over to Josh, balancing it on her muzzle. It tipped from left to right, causing small bits of water to drop simultaneously.

When she finally got to Josh, she lowered her head to let him take it from her. "Thank you." Josh said as he extended his hand forward to take the glass.

Then all of a sudden, she sneezed! Sending her flying backwards and dropping the glass. Small droplets of the contents splashed Josh on the right trouser leg, but other than that, the rest of it went on the floor. Along with bits of smashed glass.

Rainbow Dash elbowed Applejack with a smug grin on her face. Applejack rolled her eyes and paid up to Rainbow Dash.

Derpy quickly got up. "Oh my! What happened there?"

"I think you sneezed."

"…Oh yeah." She replied. "I better get this cleaned up. Be right back."

She dashed off. Presumably to get things to clean with.

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. "She's so stupid!"

Josh laughed to himself softly. "I think she's cute." He said.

Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped laughing and glared at Josh. "Cute? She can't tell right from left. How can you call that cute?"

Josh shrugged. "She's just cute and kinda funny."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "I thought you were cool. But now you're saying stuff like 'aww! She's cute!'" Rainbow Dash put on a really girly cutsie-wootsie voice

Josh sighed. "Rainbow Dash, it doesn't affect your 'coolness' when you say things like that. Some people find it sort of…well…attractive."

Rainbow Dash perked up. "Really?"

"Well…yeah…" Josh replied.

"…Do you find it attractive?"

He shrugged. "I guess I do in a way, yeah." He replied.

He stood from his chair. "If you excuse me, I would like to meet some other ponies."

He quietly mingled with other ponies for the rest of the night. Most of them eager to hear stories from his world. They were quite surprised that there were no humans with wings or that used magic. Josh didn't like magic anyway. He was a very logical kind of person. He didn't believe that things just happened, like with magic. He believed for there to be a push that sets everything in motion. A cause and effect.

He was offered a fair amount of drinks throughout the evening, but he turned them all down. He stuck to soft drinks. He didn't want to be under the influence of alcohol before meeting the Princess. Some of the drinks he consumed had very…interesting names. _'Dandelion Surprise? Sounds like the name of a crappy Valentine's Day bouquet.'_

The height of the ponies was also quite a shock to him. He was roughly 6 foot tall, possibly a bit more. All the ponies were around 4 foot. He expected them to be allot bigger.

Towards the end of the night, the ponies started to leave. Josh looked at the time. It was 9:30 PM. He decided it was probably time for him to get going too.

As he made his way to his car (or rather, his Dad's car), a few ponies that were leaving at the same time as him waved to him. He waved back as he opened the door. He put his seatbelt on and put the key in the ignition. He pulled it out of gear into neutral. He always left it in neutral when he parked, so that the car didn't roll back.

He flicked the engine over and took the handbrake off. He got ready to go, but then all of a sudden, he heard banging on his window. He looked over. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Can you take me for a spin!" She said through the glass.

Josh sighed. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to, but she had asked before, and he did promise her. "Come on in!" He said.

Rainbow Dash searched the door before she found the thing that stuck out from it. She pulled it, and the door opened. Once there was enough room for her to get in, she climbed onto the seat. She observed how Josh was sitting. She tried to copy his posture the best she could.

Josh leant across and grabbed her seatbelt. He pulled it down in front of her face. "This is called a seatbelt." He told her. He then pulled it across and plugged it into the socket.

He shifted to first gear and pulled away. He built up a bit of speed, and then shifted to second. He then started turning in the direction of his house. Maintaining a steady pace. Once he was more or less in a straight line, Josh short shifted to fifth.

Rainbow Dash sighed as they continued on in a straight line. "Borrrrinnggg!" she blurted out. "Doesn't this thing go any faster?"

Josh smiled. "With pleasure." He said in a cheeky tone. He dropped it into third and mashed the gas. Rainbow Dash jumped a bit at the acceleration.

He came across the same set of trees he demonstrated his skills with to Twilight. He headed for them and performed the same routine. Weaving in and out of them and sliding the car around towards the end.

"Wow. That was actually quite fun for not flying." She said. She looked down between her legs. "Although…I've got this weird warm feeling between my legs…"

Josh laughed. "Heated seats." He said as he flicked them off. "Twilight thought she pee'd 'erself too."

"…Ohh…" Rainbow Dash's laughter slowly bought up as she began to understand the prank.

"So anyway, can I drop you off at your house?" Josh asked.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Not unless this thing can fly. My house is above ground." She replied.

"Oh, okay. Can I drop you off near it?"

"Nah, I'm okay! I've been wanting to give my wings a stretch anyway." She replied.

"Okay then. Good evening, Rainbow Dash." Josh said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash unbelted herself and opened the door. "G'night Josh." She said as she climbed out and closed the door. She then shot off into the sky.

Josh parked the car outside his house and locked it. He the unlocked the front door and went inside. He had a few things on his mind, but he couldn't be bothered to do them. He looked at the clock in the living room. It was 9PM. "I've been at that party for six hours?" He said to himself.

He went up into his room and switched his laptop on. Once it had booted up, he plugged a flash drive into it. He transferred all of his My Little Pony stuff onto it. All the videos. All the pictures. All the fanfiction's he'd been writing. The lot. _'If they find this then I'm screwed. But I don't want to lose all those gigabytes of data forever. I've got to hide this flash drive somewhere…'_

He looked around, but nowhere immediately obvious presented itself. He sighed. "I'll figure something out later." He said as he started to yawn. "Too tired. Can't be arsed…" He said as he yawned. He then went to get ready for bed.

He switched everything off and then laid down in bed. His eyes were heavy, but his brain was still running flatout. Though there wasn't really a time when his brain wasn't running flatout. He wanted to sleep, but he still had allot of thoughts going through his mind…

* * *

_**Well there you go! Hope you enjoyed it! 'Cause I feel I could've done better...oh well...**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW :D**_


	3. A Trip to Canterlot

_**Why hey there everypony. Welcome to chapter 3 of my story. Originally this chapter was going to be roughly twice as long, but I decided that it was a bit too long, so I halved it. **_

_**Well, I have nothing more to say here. Other than you can expect more updates coming in quick. I'm so bored I'm bored of being bored, so I've got nothing better to do at the moment. XD**_

_**Don't forget to drop a review :)  
**_

* * *

The sun slowly began to rise. Nice and early in the morning. Many ponies were still asleep, and intended to remain asleep for a few more hours. Wildlife began to emerge at the presence of the sun.

Josh lay quietly in his bed. He lay on his right side, and his chest slowly rose up and down. His heartbeat gently drumming away. All of a sudden, there was a sharp knock on his door.

His eyes fluttered open. "Wh-what?" He said out of disorientation. He sat up on the edge of his bed and rubbed his eyes. He heard a second knock. "Allright I'm coming!" He called down. _'Geez, I never knew ponies woke up so early.'_

He slowly began to walk. As he walked passed his door, he picked up his dressing gown that was hanging off a rail coming from his door. He put it on as he walked down the stairs.

He brushed his hair back quickly with his hands and then twisted the key in the lock on the door. Once he felt it unlock, he opened it. To his surprise, Twilight was standing in front of him. She was holding the book he had given her with her magic. "T-Twilight? What are you-"

"I've been studying that book you gave me, and I've been practicing combining it with my magic, and I think I got it."

"…You came up this early to tell me that?" He replied. He couldn't see too well, because he didn't have his glasses on. It didn't affect him too much not wearing his glasses, but he still had difficulty registering detail. He noticed that Twilight's eyes had dark areas around them, like a panda. "Have you been up all night?"

She nodded. "Studying this!" She motioned to Josh's book. "I'm ready! Are you?"

Josh sighed. "No I'm not. And neither are you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You need coffee. And so do I. And a shower."

"I don't smell that bad, do I?" She asked.

"But I do." Josh replied. "And not to mention I don't want to go into the future looking like this."

Twilight chuckled.

"Well, come on in." He said, moving away to let Twilight through. He closed the door and then walked into the kitchen. He filled the kettle and then set it to boil.

"I'm just gonna go get changed. I'll be down in a minute." He said.

"Sure." Twilight replied.

Josh headed upstairs into his room. He didn't have time for a shower, because he didn't want to keep Twilight waiting, so he just drenched himself in deodorant. He then threw on the first clothes that appeared to him in his wardrobe. A set of brown jeans and a red Jeff Gordon #24 NASCAR T-shirt.

He walked back down. As soon as he came back to the kitchen, the kettle finished boiling. He went down into the cabinet for mugs. "Do you want some coffee?" He asked.

"Umm…I've actually never drank coffee before…" She said.

Josh looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You do all night studying and you've never tried coffee?"

"Uhh…yeah. We do have coffee here in Equestria, it's not an alien drink to me, but it's just that hot drinks don't really appeal to me in general…"

"…Well, you look tired. It'll have more a more noticeable effect now." Josh replied. He bought out 2 mugs and placed them on the worktop. He got a container with instant coffee in it and poured some of the ground up coffee into each mug, roughly guessing how much he needed. He never bothered with exact amounts unless he was cooking.

He then got a big tub of sugar and, again, roughly poured in what he thought was enough. He was about to pour some into Twilight's, but then he stopped. "Do you want sugar?" He asked.

"I don't know…I've never tried coffee before…what does sugar do?"

"Just makes it a bit more sweeter. That, and it puts more energy in it."

She shrugged. "I guess I'm taking sugar then. How much do I have?"

"As much as you want." Josh replied. He poured in a little bit to start her off. "That should do it."

He put the sugar down. "Milk?" He asked. "I don't have mine with milk, but you can if you want."

"Does that make it any difference?" Twilight asked.

"Well, back where I come from, a particular part of my world called England, everyone drinks it with milk. I'm one of the very few who drink coffee without milk. However, in a place called America, it's much more popular to have coffee without milk." He said.

He shrugged. "It's you choice. It takes some of the strength away from it though."

"Oh. Well in that case, I'll just have it normal then." She said.

With that, he picked up the kettle and half filled the mugs with water. He then bought the mugs over to the sink and then filled them the rest of the way with cold water. "Doing that makes them the right temperature for drinking. If I just used boiled water, we'd have to leave them for a while before we could drink them."

"Wow, I would've never thought of that." Twilight replied.

Josh slid the mug over to her and drank from his at the same time. Twilight picked it up with her magic and took a sip. She immediately started coughing, almost spitting out the brown liquid as she did, but she managed to keep it in and swallow it.

"Bit strong?" Josh laughed.

"Just a little." Twilight said, still coughing.

Josh chuckled. "Come." He said as he started to walk.

Twilight followed him into the living room. Once there, Josh picked up a clipboard with a few sheets of paper on it that was on a coffee table in the middle of the room. "I've used these calculations to find out exactly how much energy we need to get us to different locations." Josh stated. He took the pencil and did a few last minute scribbles as he walked towards the back door.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" She asked.

"Positive." Josh replied as he opened the door. He stepped out onto the patio. Twilight followed him.

He went into the shed to get something quickly. He came out with 2 cables, one black one red. But they had crocodile clips on the end of them.

As he approached the wormhole, he picked up the multimeter he left out there from the last time they used it. "Are you good with knowing how to produce electricity out of what is essentially thin air?"

"It's not exactly thin air, but yeah, I get what you mean." Twilight replied.

"Allright," Josh came about to the left side of the wormhole, about 5 meters away from it. Twilight stood next to him.

He took the crocodile clips in each of his hands and held the multimeter in his armpit. "These are going to give me a reading of how much electricity you're producing. I'm just going to attach them to your horn." He said.

Twilight nodded.

He went ahead and placed them on either side of Twilight's horn. "Not too tight it's hurting you is it?" He asked.

"I can't feel anything. It's just bone. It won't hurt unless you try to bend it." She said.

"Oh. Well in that case, were good to go." He replied. He switched the multimeter to its maximum reading setting. "Okay, start of small, and slowly build up. I don't want you to pass out in event of me miscalculating."

"What are the chances of that?" Asked Twilight.

"Fractions, dear Twilight. But nevertheless, I don't want to be taking an unnecessary risk." He replied.

"I understand." She said.

"Good. Now, in your own time, begin."

Twilight took in a deep breath. She didn't stress herself out too much as her horn started to glow. The numbers slowly began to creep up.

"Okay, now you've started, bring it up to five hundred." He said.

The numbers crept up and started holding at 500, fluctuating a little between 497 and 502.

"Is that volts?" Asked Twilight.

"Correct." Josh replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Not even getting warmed up. I could easily break ten thousand."

Josh smiled. "Make it so." He replied.

The glow from Twilight's horn intensified and the numbers shot right up.

"I'm actually feeling a little something now." She said.

"Ten thousands good, but nowhere near what I need. Bring it up to fifty thousand." Josh said.

"With pleasure." Twilight replied. With that, the numbers bought themselves up to 50,000.

"How's that feel?" Josh asked.

"Like taking a long walk. I could still do more." She replied.

"Good. Now bring it up to a quarter of a million." He said.

"That's a little higher than I thought we would be doing, but I can do it." Twilight replied.

The numbers crept up to 250,000, but a little more slowly this time. "It feels like a normal pace jog." She said.

"That's good. Now I want you to sprint to the finish. Go for three quarters of a million!" Josh said.

"That's gonna be hard…"

"But can you do it?"

"…I…I think so. But not for long."

"Good. You won't need to do it for long, because your gonna release it all at one remember? Like the capacitor."

"Y-yeah."

Twilight closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Her horn started glowing intensely. Josh squinted as the light being emitted was blinding. He turned a bit to the right and roofed his hand over the screen of the multimeter.

Twilight began tugging at the ground, making marks in the dirt. She started groaning under the pressure.

"C'mon Twilight, just one hundred thousand more volts!" Josh said.

Twilight concentrated and tried as hard as she could. The numbers slowly crept up and up and up until…"NOW!" Josh yelled.

Twilight released all the energy she had built up as a purple aurora that went hurtling towards the wormhole. Josh covered his eyes with his hand as the light became unbearable. The aurora started engulfing the wormhole and then the wormhole absorbed it. It then suddenly flashed in a big blue light for a split second, making a loud popping noise as it did. Twilight and Josh jumped slightly at the sudden noise.

Twilight was breathing heavily. "How was that?" Josh asked.

"A little harder than I thought, but nothing I can't handle." Twilight replied.

"Good." Josh looked at the clipboard. "By my calculations, the other side of that wormhole should've arrived in approximately the year twenty eight hundred. They should have a better form of control for these things at this time."

Josh slowly walked towards the wormhole. Twilight followed him. As usual, once he was within 3 meters, it enlarged to allow him through. "Well, here goes nothing." He said.

He slowly stepped forward and leaned through it. Twilight watched with keen interest as he travelled through.

All of a sudden, he dived back through the wormhole, making Twilight jump. He landed on his front, coughing violently. "Are you allright!? What happened!?" Twilight said in panic.

Josh, still violently coughing, eased himself up onto his knees. He then gave a really chesty, unnatural sounding cough, throwing up phlegm and blood as he did.

His coughing slowly began to die down. He took deep breaths until he could finally speak again. "I don't have a clue…" He said. "The only logical explanation is that something happened back on Earth that caused those dramatic atmospheric changes."

"Atmospheric changes?"

Josh nodded. "Whatever's in the air, it isn't friendly. I mean look," Josh pointed to the ground to the phlegm and blood he bought up from coughing. "I think that if I'd stayed there a second longer, my lungs would've dissolved to nothing but a pool of blood. I couldn't see anything either. It was like pitch black with a burning sensation. I think that's radiation…"

"…So…what do we do?" Asked Twilight.

"Keep travelling back in time until we find out when whatever happened happened."

"Okay…that's going to take a lot of"

"Trial and error." Josh and Twilight spoke the same last words. "…Mostly error…" Josh replied.

"…But…if it almost killed you first time around, how are you gonna survive a few more times?" Twilight questioned.

Josh smiled. "I've got a pretty good idea." He said.

He walked over to the other end of the garden to a small tree that was growing there. It was very small, probably only about 9 or 10 feet tall, but it was still a tree.

Josh grabbed the longest branch he could from where he could reach and yanked it as hard as it could. The main wood of the branch snapped but it was still hanging on by the bark. Josh simply pulled it and it ripped off with ease.

"Stay here. I'll be back in a second." He said.

He dropped the stick by the back door and then went dashing through his house. He picked up a small digital camera from his parents' bedroom, along with the USB cable for it, and he then grabbed his laptop from his room. He switched it on and let it boot up whilst he was still working.

He then went back outside and grabbed some duct tape from the shed. He tied the camera around the end of the branch with duct tape and then plugged it into his laptop. He then bought it all up to show Twilight.

"This camera is feeding a live stream directly to my laptop." He explained. He pointed the camera towards them to show her. He waved to Twilight through the camera and chuckled.

"Now the rest you should be able to figure out. Anyway," he picked his clipboard up from off the floor, "take me back to twenty five hundred." He presented the board to her, "the formulas, equations, and calculations are all here. Here's the multimeter. You do the maths."

Twilight picked everything up with her magic and wondered over to the same spot she was last time.

"…You must be very good at math to do all this Josh…"

"Heh. I'm not really that good at maths. I just know what I'm doing." Josh replied.

Twilight did the last few things in her mind and then put everything down. "Ready." She said.

"On your mark." Josh replied. "Just remember we need the positive energy now, Twilight."

"Okay. Now!" She said. Her horn started glowing and the numbers began shooting up on the multimeter.

It didn't take her that much effort to get to the required energy levels, since she only had to go back 300 years instead of 800. Once the procedure had finished, Josh stuck the camera on a stick through the wormhole. Nothing appeared on the laptop screen apart from a black mist.

Josh shook his head. "Looks like it happened earlier than this. Take us back another two hundred years." He said.

"You got it." She replied.

The process repeated again until the wormhole arrived at what should be the year 2300. Give or take 20 years.

Josh shoved the camera through. Again, it showed nothing but a black mist.

"This is getting scarily closer to my original time period…" Josh said. "Go for another two hundred years and see what happens." Josh said.

"Hmm…twenty one hundred…how long do you humans live Josh?"

"The average is probably about ninety or ninety five. Some do live longer, but only the lucky ones. However, lifespan's could've been extended by now, considering it is one hundred and four years after I was born."

"…So…in theory, you could still be living by now?"

"Yeah, I guess I could…" _"Twenty one hundred. Why does that year ring such a big bell…?"_

"Anyway, I'll get started." Twilight said.

She started concentrating and her horn started glowing. She was getting quite worn out from all these high demands on her ability. A droplet of sweat dropped off her forehead and she gritted her teeth. The power began building exponentially on the multimeter until she had to release it all.

"That should do it…" She said, letting out a deep breath.

Josh stuck the camera through. On screen, everything appeared normal. "Everything appears to be normal…" He said.

"So…what now?" Twilight asked as she walked to his side.

"Only one thing to do." He replied. "Follow me."

She slowly started walking towards the wormhole. He placed his hand through it first then slowly followed on with the rest of his body. Twilight walked directly behind Josh, following him through nicely.

On the other side, there was very little that caught his eye. It had the same layout it did 104 years ago. The garden and house were both still the same size. Well, the house looked to be a bit taller. And instead of having an arched roof, it had a flat roof. It also appeared to have had some modifications to it over the years. The top floor didn't look like standard brickwork at all. It appeared to be some sort of metallic structure.

There was still some indication of the original brickwork at the bottom of the house. Along with the conservatory, which looked almost original apart from some of the gizmo's sticking off the roof.

"Well…is everything normal?" Twilight asked.

"I guess you could say so…" Josh replied. "But everything seems a bit too…quiet…"And he did have a point. There wasn't a bird in the sky. There was no sign of any activity coming from inside any houses on the street. The wind was still and silent. The only sound made was the rustling of the grass under Josh's and Twilight's feet as they slowly walked forward.

"Where do we start?" Asked Twilight.

"I don't know…" Josh replied. "There's not really much to see…"

He walked down the steps and walked towards the back gate. The gate was no longer operated by a hand lock. Instead, Josh just pressed a button mounted on the wall. The lock clicked open and the door split in half, the 2 halves disappearing into the walls.

Josh slowly walked through with Twilight by his left hand side. What he saw there took him completely by surprise.

Cars, parked on the driveway of each house, rusting away. They looked like they hadn't moved in a hundred years. He easily recognised some of the cars parked around the street. He could name them all easily.

Fearing the worst, he looked to his right hand side at the garage door. That hadn't changed much, but judging by the control panel on the wall next to it, looks would be deceiving.

He pressed a button on the panel and the door slowly started ascending, revealing was inside.

Josh gasped as he saw what was inside. His race cars, rusting to pieces.

"My God…" He walked towards them. "What's future me done to you, girls!?" He pressed hard on the nose of his Formula Ford car. There was no movement from it at all. Only creaks.

He walked over to the cockpit and flicked one of the switches inside. It read 'master battery'. There was a silent ticking noise, and then a red light flashed above the switch. Next to it, it read 'fault light'.

Josh sighed. "She's dead…"

"But why?" Asked Twilight.

"I don't know. But I've got a pretty educated hunch that it's for the same reason as the road cars." He said.

He walked back outside and stood at the top of the driveway. His mind unable to figure out what is going on.

His thought quickly deviated as he heard a faint whooshing sound. He knew what the sound was, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Do you hear that?" He asked.

Twilight pricked her ears up. "…Yeah…what is it?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it sounds like it's in the sky."

They both looked up in unison. "…I don't see it…"

"Neither do I…"

They started walked down the driveway onto the pavement. Their heads twisting around looking for the source of the sound.

Twilight flung her body around to the right and looked up. She saw something in the sky. "Hey Josh, look! A shooting star!"

Josh turned and looked where she was looking. "…So it is…"

"I didn't know shooting stars sounded like that over here."

"They didn't as far as I knew."

They stared at it for a few moments until Twilight noticed something. "Um, Josh, is just me, or does it look like its turning?"

"…No, I see it too. It's definitely"

"Yeah. And pitching."

"Yeah and – wait! Pitching!?"

Josh looked more closely. It looked like it was coming down….and towards them…

"OH SHIT!" Josh screamed as what was going on suddenly hit him like a tidal wave.

He turned, "Run!" He shouted as he ran back towards the back gate.

Twilight, slightly clueless, followed him. "What's going on!?" She asked.

"No time to explain!" Josh hit the button to open the door. He would've usually kicked it down, but seeing how it was solid metal, that probably wasn't a good idea. "Just run!"

He ran back through the door, up the garden steps, dashed across the garden, then dived through the wormhole. Twilight followed suit, but didn't quite dive.

They regained their composure over the other side. "Okay, what was that all about?" Twilight asked.

Josh caught his breath a bit more then spoke. "I think that shooting star was actually a nuclear bomb." Josh said.

"A nuclear bomb? What's that?"

"It's a weapon designed for destroying large amounts of things instantly. Only used during extreme world wars."

"That's awful…what would your people be fighting over?"

"Funny you should ask that, because I think I know." Josh replied. "You know my cars?"

Twilight nodded.

"They run on a substance called oil. It's used to power everything. Cars, planes, power stations, even the clothes I'm wearing have synthetic plastics in them which are oil based. In other words, it's used in almost everything on Earth today. However, our supply of it isn't infinite. We knew it would run out one day…and that day was predicted sometime around the year twenty one hundred."

Twilight gasped. "You mean…"

Josh nodded. "There were two theories behind what would happen at the end of oil. One theory was that we would've found another energy source by then…the other was that there would be a massive world war over the last drops of oil. And it seems that's what happened."

"…So…what do we do now?"

Josh sighed. "There's not allot we can do…"

"What about those alternate realities you were talking about it? Or that other universe theory you said about?"

Josh shook his head. "It wore you out just trying to travel eight hundred years at once. To push us into another universe will take much more power, more than my multimeter will even read. And even then, you have to do it all at once. No gentle build ups. I think the only chance that's ever gonna happen is that if we can get another pony or two…maybe more…"

Twilight thought long and hard. Then she sighed. "Well…the only other pony I know who would help us is my brother, but he's a Captain of the Royal Guard, so he's very busy almost all of the time. The only other pony is…" Twilight shuddered. "A mare named Trixie…"

"I see…I gather you do not get along with this Trixie character?"

"You could say that…" Twilight replied. "She's a big boaster and a show-off. I don't even know if she'll be able to help us since all she can do is a bunch of cheap illusion tricks."

"Does your magic operate from the same source?" Josh asked.

"What? Well, yeah. It is the same source of power if that's what you mean."

"Then the way it is delivered is irrelevant. She may be able to help us yet." Josh replied. "What about your friend Rarity?"

"Oh, she's not as strong as me when it comes to magic."

"But she may still give us the push we need."

"Maybe so, but someone like my brother would be better."

"Agreed. I would very much like to meet this brother of yours…"

"You probably will when we go to Canterlot. I asked the Princess in my last letter for him personally to escort us."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "An escort? Is that necessary?"

Twilight shrugged. "It's probably a precaution. You are a completely new species that we'll be making contact with."

Josh nodded. "Seeing the situation, that would be very logical. Are we finished for today?"

Twilight sighed. "If you want to…then yeah, I guess so…" Twilight sounded like she wanted to continue with some more research. But as Josh said, they required more ponies to unlock the remaining secrets.

"I'll find you and the others later. For now, I wish to prepare for this meeting with Your Highness."

"Okay, I'll leave aswell." She replied.

"I'll bring the car around the Sugarcube corner again. Seeing as it is the only location of Ponyville which I know directions for, it would be logical for us to meet there."

"Car? Oh no, you're not driving. We're taking the train."

"…Very well." Josh replied. He turned to head back inside.

He went through and held the door open for Twilight. "See you in a few minutes." Josh said.

"At Sugarcube Corner." Twilight replied.

Josh nodded in acknowledgement. Even though Twilight couldn't see. He closed the door behind her. He took a quick glance at the clock. It was 10:30 AM

He immediately went upstarts and had a shower. He took his Jeff Gordon NASCAR shirt off and put something a bit more presentable on. He wore a purple shirt. This was one of his very formal shirts, it came with a tie to match, but he didn't wear it. He didn't want to overdo it, but he wanted to look somewhat formal and professional. He did up all the buttons except the top one. He then put on some navy blue dress trousers and tucked his shirt in. He then grabbed a black leather belt off the side and strapped it around his waist.

He went downstairs and put on a pair of dress shoes. He then proceeded to walk out of the door and lock it behind him.

As he walked down to Sugarcube Corner, many of the passing ponies recognised him. Then again, he was the only human here, so recognising him wouldn't be difficult. He smiled and waved back at them.

It didn't take him long to arrive at Sugarcube Corner. Outside, he found all of his friends waiting. He smiled and waved as he approached them.

"So, we ready to go?" Josh asked.

"Yep-a-roonie!" Pinkie Pie replied.

"We're gonna take the train. You have trains back where you come from Josh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Uh, yes. Yes we do. But probably not the same as the ones around here…"

Twilight started walking, Fluttershy by her side. Eventually, everyone began following them. "How would they be different? They run on track right?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Oh yeah, they run on tracks allright, but they run on electricity. Not steam powered."

"Oh right. I swear everything in your world runs on electricity."

Josh chuckled. "Almost everything." He replied.

"Well hello again, Josh." Rarity begun. "I couldn't help but notice that lovely purple shirt you were wearing. It does look rather nice, but I don't think purple is really your colour. You look like somepony – er, sorry, human, who would suit more of a white shirt with a flamboyantly coloured tie. Purple is my favourite colour personally, but not that shade. I prefer a darker shade myself, as you've probably noticed." Rarity said, flicking her mane and almost clipping Josh's nose.

"But that legwear really suits you rather well, I think. Not perfectly, but rather well. Maybe something like a royal blue or a silver. You do seem to suit the darker colours really well. Much like me."

"Okay, er, thanks for the advice Rarity. I know who to come to if I have any wardrobe issues."

"Oh I'm more than happy to help, Darling. And since you're such a brilliant friend, and a guest, I'll do anything you require free of charge!"

Josh smiled. "That's good to know. Unless you take my currency, I wouldn't be able to pay to anyway." He joked.

The walk to the train station didn't take too long. It was actually closer to Ponyville than Josh thought. The train was sitting on the line waiting for them. Josh found this suspicious at first, but then again, the Princess was expecting him. She probably ordered it to be there.

It turns out that the tickets had been prepaid for. Probably something the Princess took care of aswell. Boarding was no problem at all.

The whistle from the train blew for 2 short bursts and then it slowly started pulling away. "Could you drive this train?" Rainbow Dash.

"I am familiar with the operation of steam locomotives, yes." Josh replied.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Could you PLEASE stop talking like that? It's giving me a headache."

"Like what?"

"Like…big words nerdy talk."

"If my choice of vocabulary is difficult for you to understand, I am more than capable of simplifying it. However, that moment will only come for certain situations. Like when I need to shorten a sentence because of the pressure of time. Or if you genuinely don't understand what I am talking about."

"I…I just don't get how you can talk so…monotone. You show no emotions, and it's like you all calm cool and collected. Like you know what exactly what you're doing. Like you understand completely what's going on."

"On the contrary, my mind is constantly analysing my situation. There are many things I still fail to understand. Do not mistake composure for ease."

Rainbow Dash let out a frustrated sigh. "I give up…"

"Josh, if I may ask, do other males have hair as long as yours where you come from?" Rarity asked.

"Very few. Long hair is usually a female trait where I come from. But I have the longest hair of any male I know."

"Well, if I may say so, I think it's fabulous!" Rarity declared. "You must tell me who does it."

"Well, I sorta do it myself. In front of the mirror with a set of a straightners."

"Then you have a natural talent for this!"

"Heh. Not really. It's not that difficult."

"Nonsense! Hair like yours requires the utmost care and attention. You definitely know what to do when it comes to hair styling!"

"If you say so…"

Josh jumped slightly as the lighting suddenly vanished. Then he realised they were going through a tunnel. He didn't notice it.

"So did ya an' Twilight find out anythin' more?" Asked Applejack.

"Well, the good news is that we found out what we need to do. The bad news is that I found out the future for my world."

"…What's thet?"

Josh proceeded to talk to them about the oil crises. About the theories. About the aftermath. About what he saw. About his future.

"What about alternate realities? You said those could be possible." Twilight said.

Josh shook his head. "Space/time physics are extremely difficult to understand. It may seem simple-ish on a small scale, such as the wormhole in my back garden, but essentially moving an entire universe onto another path is allot harder than it seems. Plus there are loads of other factors involved."

"…So what do you do? If you don't mind me asking…" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I don't have the technology to properly control that wormhole, so I don't want to go hopping around universes firing blind. I guess my current options at this point would be to either go back and pretend nothing happened or…"

"…Stay here…" Twilight finished for him.

"Yes. But I would like to conduct more experiments and testing before making my final decision. I don't give up very easily."

"Well if you wanted to stay, I wouldn't mind at all!" Pinkie exclaimed. "And then we could have loads of sleepovers! And parties! And loads and loads and loads of fun!"

"Of course, Pinkie Pie. I wouldn't miss one of your parties for the world." Josh replied.

The train was slowly approaching a station. It slowly begun to slow down so it was going no faster than walking pace as it entered the station. Josh looked out of the windows and saw allot of guards. They were wearing armour. Lots of it. They also bared spear-like weapons, presumably only used for show and self defence.

"Hey, hey, there's my brother!" Twilight said. "Hey Shining Armour!" She waved.

The pony smiled and nodded back at her. Josh gathered he was trying to keep to his professionalism as much as possible. Much like he would do. "Well, I guess we should get off." He said.

Josh was the first to depart onto the platform. There were 2 guards either side of him as he walked off. He noticed the large town of Canterlot with allot of different levels. A relatively large formation of guards was standing ahead of him. He gathered that the Princess was a bit unsure about first contact with an alien who can apparently manipulate time and space. He made the assumption that Twilight told the Princess about his little experiments over one of her letters.

He slowly begun walking forwards, looking at some of the guards. They didn't make any twitches or movements at all. They just stood in a perfect formation.

All of a sudden, Josh felt something grab his wrists. He looked down to see that they were being engulfed by a deep blue aurora. Suddenly, he was yanked up and held about half a meter above the ground. "Hey! Who's doing that!? Cut it out!"

All the guards starting to look around, panic beginning to arise in their voice. Until their sights set upon one pony, who in the confusion had made his way over to Josh's side. He had a dark blue coloured coat and a lighter blue mane and tail. The horn indicated he was a Unicorn. His cutie mark was a gavel, like the Judge uses in a courtroom. "You're under arrest on the accusation of plotting against Equestria."

"Plotting against Equestria!? ARE YOU CRAZY!? I've only been here for a few seconds and I'm accused of terrorism!? What evidence do you have to show this!?"

He simply replied with "you have the right to remain silent." He started pulling Josh by his wrists through midair.

Josh discovered that from where he was being suspended by magic, he could swing on the point. He slowly but indiscreetly built up momentum and then drove a powerful kick into the side of the face of the Unicorn accusing him of terrorism. The pony cried in pain and dropped his magic. Josh landed on his 2 feet and bought his fists up. However, he was immediately surrounded by guards. He knew what he just did was an offence, but he wasn't just going to let himself be accused of terrorism by somepony who he doesn't even know.

The pony looked at him, rubbing the side of his face to soothe the pain. "Now that IS an offence! You are hereby charge with assaulting a Royal Guard and-"

A ball of energy suddenly shot out of the horn of the Unicorn Twilight had identified as her brother. It hit the other Unicorn in the flank, leaving light scorch marks on his behind. "YEEOW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

Twilight's brother walked towards him. "What do you think you're doing!? What gives you the right to accuse him of this!?"

The Unicorn pointed a hoof at him. "Look at him! He's evil!"

Everypony gasped. And Josh. "Evil? On what claims?" Twilight's brother pressed.

This was the point that seemed that the pony appeared to be a little tongue-tied. "I uh…I just know, Okay? I have a hunch. He doesn't feel too friendly. Just being around him makes my spine tingle."

"I'm standing right here, you know!?" Josh butted in.

"Commander, so far your 'hunches' have caused us nothing but embarrassment. Until you come up with an explanation for this, I may have to put you on suspension. Now think carefully about what you're about to say."

"…" The Unicorn was defeated. He knew it, Josh knew it, Twilight's brother knew it, everypony knew it. They were just waiting for him to admit it.

"…Ughhhh…Fine. But he still attacked me, and I consider that an assault on the Royal Guard!"

"It was in self defence from your incompetence! And it was within perfectly acceptable levels! Commander, you're relieved of duty for the rest of the day. If you cooperate now then I won't file you for court marshal."

The pony remained silent for a few more seconds, then gave an angry grunt and stormed off. Twilight's brother turned to Josh, telling the guards to back off. They did as he commanded.

"Sorry about that. My new Commander is a tad…enthusiastic." He said. He took his helmet off and brushed his mane back. "I'm Captain Shining Armour. I'm here to escort you to the Princess's Castle."

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Josh, Josh Valentine."

"Okay then…shall we get going?"

"Yes, lets." Josh replied.

The lot of them began walking up towards the Princess's Castle. Josh still thought that all the guards were unnecessary, but they were probably just a precaution.

"Forgive me if I offend here, Josh, but…are all humans as…tall as you?"

Josh smiled. "I'm probably just above average height. Some are taller, some are shorter. But you would be pretty tall if you walked around on your hind legs."

"Hehe, yeah. I guess I would…"

"By the way, who was that?"

"Who?"

"You're Number One?"

"My what? Oh! You mean Zhengyi?" **(A/N: Pronounced 'Zeng-why')**

Josh nodded.

"He's my new Commander. He's only been in my team for…just over two weeks now, and he's been having these 'hunches' telling him stuff. I think he's just a bit overexcited and wants to see some action."

"He looks awfully young." Josh said.

"Yeah, I would never have picked him to be my Commander, or my 'Number One' as you call it. He's far too young and inexperienced. It's just he's one of my superiors sons and he sorta used him to wiggle his way into my team. Anyway, since he's joined, he caused us nothing but embarrassment. It's just stupid. I know the old 'if in doubt, do something' idea, but this is ridiculous."

"Maybe he's just trying to show off." Josh replied.

"Probably…"

"What's with the gavel on his flank?"

"Hm? You talking about his cutie mark? My sister did tell you about what they are right?"

"Briefly." Josh replied.

"Okay. Well, the cutie mark represents a special talent, skill or interest. His one, a gavel as you identified, represents his skill for justice. He enjoys courtroom battles, being the prosecutor of course. He says he likes to maintain the justice in Equestria. The only problem is, crime is rarely an issue here, so there's not much to really battle in court."

"So he's trying to find something?"

"Well…yeah. That's what I thought aswell."

"There's your problem, Shining Armour. He's bored. Shove him behind a desk for a month or two and he might appreciate what he had."

"I've been trying to, but it's VERY difficult to get things to go your way when his father is the Admiral."

"10-4, I can imagine…" Josh replied.

"So what's your cutie mark? I can't see it under all those clothes you're wearing. Do all Humans wear that many clothes?"

"Erm, we don't have cutie marks. Nothing like them. The closest we can is probably a tattoo, but they don't really represent anything. People just get them because they like them."

"No cutie marks? Do you even have Ponies back where you're from?"

"Uh, we do have Ponies, but nothing like you guys. They don't talk, or fly, or use magic. And they're not as…how should I put it…? Flamboyantly coloured. They're also a tad taller."

"Oh…"

"So what's with the shield?" Josh asked. "Are you good at defending or something?"

"Mmm…I suppose you could say that…what do you think your cutie mark would be Josh?"

"Heh. I have lots of talents in many areas, but my number one passion has to be for motorsports. So I guess it would be something like a chequered flag."

"Motorsports?"

"It's quite complicated."

"No, no, I kinda get it. Twilight told me roughly about it in her letters."

"I see…so what's this Princess character of yours like?"

"She's actually really nice. Really patient. Although, if I were over a thousand years old, I guess I'd be pretty patient too."

"Yeah I – wait. She's over a thousand years old?"

Shining Armour nodded. "She's ruled over Equestria for over a thousand years. Alongside her co-ruler and sister, Princess Luna."

"I see…and does all of Equestrian Royalty have lifespan's like that?"

"Why don't you ask her for yourself?" Shining Armour replied and pointed.

Josh looked ahead. They had arrived at the Castle. A magic aurora engulfed the large doors and they swung open. They went through and saw the innards of the castle. It quite nicely represented the construction methods and building materials of castles from ancient Earth. Mostly stone and brick with lots and lots of decoration. This was a Royal Palace after all, can't look too shabby.

The group ascended a few flights of stairs and then made their way through a large door. At this door, 2 guards stood at either end, their spears crossed over. Shining Armour simply gave them a nod and they uncrossed their spears and the door opened.

There, at the far end of the room, sat a tall white pony on a throne. "I escorted the human from the train as requested, Princess." He spoke.

"Thank you very much, Captain." She replied in a rather pleasant tone. Not something that Josh would've expected had he not known her from the show. "Guards, you are dismissed. Shining Armour, you can stay."

All the guards did a quick bow and then turned to leave. However, 2 guards remained either side of the Princess.

Once they had reached the steps leading up to the throne, everyone took a bow. However, Josh continued on up the steps. "Your Highness, allow me to introduce myself." He begun as he walked up. "My name is Josh Valentine. I am not only a human, but I am from another universe."

Once he reached the top of the steps, he was more or less standing directly in front of the Princess. He extended his right hand out, palm facing upwards and ever so slightly cupped. Celestia, unsure of how to respond, simply did the same as him.

Josh gently placed his hand underneath her hoof and bent down towards it. He lightly kissed the Princess's hoof and then stood upright. "That is one of our greetings when meeting a VIP or someone of Royalty. It's our equivalent of a bow. We do still use bowing on some occasions, but not all the time. It's considered…I'm sorry, there's no way to really put it without it sounding a tiny bit offensive, but it's considered a bit barbaric. Wait, that's probably the wrong word…monarchist. That's a better word."

"Right. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. This is my sister and co-ruler, Princess Luna."

Josh looked at Luna. "Pleasure to meet you too, Princess." He proceeded to do the same greeting with Princess Luna. She bought her hoof up, he took it in his hand, and he kissed it gently.

"WE FIND THIS ALIEN'S SHOW OF RESPECT RATHER PLEASING!" She shouted so loud it made Josh's hair blow backwards like he had just stepped into a strong wind.

Everypony covered their ears. Except Celestia, who had gotten used to it. She was still trying to bring her more up to date with the changes of Equestria, which included trying to get her to stop using the 'Traditional' Royal Canterlot Voice. However, it amazed her that Josh didn't even flinch.

"I'm only trying to give constructive criticism here, Lady Luna, but first of all when addressing one person, you don't have to speak that loud. Also, you don't have to speak in second person all the time. It sounds very weird."

"WE LIKE TO USE THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!"

"Uhh…okay…could you maybe use the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice at a lower volume?"

"Excuse my sister, she's been away for a long time. A thousand years to be exact. She's still trying to get to grips with the modern era."

"Oh right, ten-four. Speaking of which, I was told that you are over a thousand years old. That's almost ten times the maximum lifespan of a human. We only live to about eighty or ninety years on average, one hundred tops."

"That could be long or short depending on how long a year is for you." Celestia replied.

"Twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year." Josh said.

"Oh. What a coincidence. That's exactly the same here in Equestria."

"Really? That's convenient." Josh replied. "So, is there anything particular you wanted to know about me?"

"I've got quite a few. First of all, do you have any humans that fly or use magic?"

"Nope. No magic. No natural flight." Josh replied.

"No natural flight? So you do fly?"

"Well…kind of. We have flying machines that we operate to take us through the air. They're called aeroplanes."

"Oh. How do they fly?"

"Erm, using something called an engine. It ignites a source of power which provides power and propulsion. Then, combined with other devices and the laws of physics, it allows us to fly through the sky."

"I see. Twilight also told me that you have these things on wheels? You called them cars. Do they run on these engines too?"

"Yes. Almost all machinery from Earth runs on an engine of some kind. Or has some form of power source."

"Earth?"

"The name of the place I'm from." Josh replied.

"I have a question." Luna butted in, using a 'normal' voice. "If there are no flying humans, then who controls the weather?"

"Well…the weather just kinda does itself back on Earth. It's controlled by pressure bands and wind. No one controls it so to speak."

"But…how do you prevent natural disasters, like flooding or blizzards or snowstorms or tornados or hurricanes?"

"We don't." Josh said simply. "We have lots of equipment designed for dealing with them, but we don't – can't directly stop them."

"Ah…"

"So anyway Josh, I wish to know how you got here. Twilight explained it to me briefly in a letter, and she also pointed out that you weren't exactly 100 percent on it either. Can you tell me what you know?"

Josh laughed. "I can tell you allot, it just depends on how good your maths, science and physics are, Princess."

"…Okay…well…enlighten me. Tell me everything."

"Very well." Josh inhaled deeply. "I believe it is some form of wormhole."

"Wormhole? What's that?"

"It's like a hole in subspace. It will take you almost instantly from where it starts to where it ends. They can travel between almost anything. Points in time. Points in space. Alternate realities. Or, as is the situation here, alternate universes."

"I see. So how did you manage to walk into one? Or more importantly, how did it get there in the first place?"

"There was an anomaly in space on the night I came here. I think that's what caused it."

"I see…do your people know you're missing?"

Josh shook his head. "From this particular anomaly, time and space are irrelevant. If I wanted to go back right now, I could, but I see too many opportunities here in Equestria to go back. Also…there's something else I want to talk to you about."

"What?"

"Well…I was wondering…that…if you didn't mind…if I could stay and live here in Equestria?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, I used the wormhole to see into my future, and I didn't like it one bit. I've got nothing to live for back where I come from. I was wondering if I could stay here. I would be much happier here."

"Hmm…I would have to think about it…"

"Take all the time you need." Josh replied. "In the meantime, with the aid of Twilight, I wish to continue my work on wormhole physics. Also, I would like to request something else."

"What's that?"

"I have devised a series of scientific processes that may prove effective at helping me learn more about this subspace anomaly. However, I don't have the power to be able to make these processes work. I can't do magic myself, and Twilight's magical abilities can only go so far, so I was wondering—"

"If I could aid you with some of the Unicorns in my Royal Guard?" Celestia finished for him.

"Exactly." Josh replied.

"How many Unicorns will you need?"

"The number will vary depending on the magical ability and potential of said Unicorns, but at the moment I'm only running it on a small scale. I think one should suffice for now."

"Very well. You are already acquainted with Captain Shining Armour. He may assist you."

Josh looked back at Shining Armour. "Perfect. Could you come straight back with me?" Josh asked.

"Sure thing." He replied.

"Great. I should—"

"Wait, wait!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I wanted to show you around where I live, Josh. Can't you do all that stuff later?"

"Uh, Rainbow Dash, in case you haven't figured it out, Josh probably can't walk on clouds." Twilight said.

"Can't you do that spell which makes Earth Ponies walk on clouds on him?"

"Well…theoretically yes, but I've never done it on a human before. I don't know what would happen to him."

"I'd try it." Josh said.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Josh replied. "I mean come on. If I can survive travelling through subspace anomaly, I can probably survive a little spell."

"…Okay…"

Josh looked at Shining Armour. "Come to my house at around about five PM. Twilight will direct you."

"You got it." He replied.

"So can we get going, Josh?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Not yet, Rainbow, I've still got a few things I'd like to ask Your Highness."

"Like what?" Celestia asked.

"I hear that you two raise the sun and the moon at their appropriate times. Is that true?"

"Uhh…yeah, it is. Why? Don't you have something to control the day and the night? I know you don't have magic, but surely you must have some contraption that does it?"

Josh shook his head. "The Earth orbits the Sun, but as it does, it spins and tilts, creating the day and the night. And the Moon orbits the Earth."

Celestia started laughing. Luna started joining in. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…you had me going there for a second. You're not actually suggesting that your world moves and spins are you?"

"That's…exactly what I was saying…"

The 2 of them suddenly stopped laughing. "But…wouldn't you get dizzy from all the spinning?"

"You don't notice it. From a human perspective, since everything is on such a large scale, you barely notice it."

"Oh…how strange…"

Josh was about to get into a battle of science vs. magic, but he decided it's probably not best to argue over that with the Monarch of the land. "Okay…well, if you want me, you know where I am." Josh tilted his head towards them. "Good day, Lady Celestia and Luna."

"Good luck with your research, Josh. I wish I could invite you to my party, but according to my staff, all the tickets are sold. Sorry."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Party?"

"It's my birthday."

"Oh! Well, happy birthday! How old are you?" Josh could've just slapped himself right there and then for asking of her age. _'Subtle, Josh. Real subtle…'_

"Erm…I'll be one thousand and twenty three on the thirtieth of August."

"Oh right…what's the date today?"

"...It's the sixteenth…"

"Oh right. Fourteen days from now. That's nice."

"As I said, I'm sorry there's no tickets left. But…" She smiled. "One of my subjects may take you in as their plus one..."

"Yeah! I'd take you in, Joshie!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Heh-heh. Do all the tickets have plus ones?"

"…Not all of them…only select ones…" Celestia replied.

Josh smiled. "Why might that be? Do you know of some ponies that might like to bring friends? Or did you have another idea in mind?"

Celestia gave a nervous smile. "Heh-heh…yeah…you could say I had…alternate motives…"

"Like boyfriends. Or in this case, coltfriends."

"REALLY!?" Josh heard a few ponies blurt out from behind him.

Celestia chuckled nervously. "…Okay, you got me. That was my intention. I don't like to intrude too much into others lives, but I am curious and…better safe than sorry…"

"Ten-four, I get it." Josh replied. "But I haven't been given any indication of them having relationships." He looked back at the 6 of them. "Unless there's something they're not telling." He said then winked.

"Just in case." Celestia replied.

"Excuse us, Josh Valentine," Luna spoke. "If thou worked that out, why doesn't thou consider a career in Law and Order? We think you would excel in it."

"I've considered it before, Princess, but I chose to follow my dream career as a racing driver instead."

She nodded. "One must always follow thy heart."

"Always do." Josh replied. "Anyhow, is this meeting concluded?"

"I believe so." Celestia replied. "You may leave."

"Pleasure to meet you, Princess's."

"The pleasure was all ours." Celestia replied.

He walked down the steps and towards Twilight. "So, can you do that spell you were talking about?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go outside first."

"Well, I'll see you at five PM." Shining Armour said as he walked out a side door in the room.

"Ten-four." Josh replied.

"Ten-four? No, it's almost midday according to that clock." Twilight replied.

"What? No, I wasn't referring to the time. Ten-four means stuff like 'okay', 'affirmative', 'got it', 'right', 'yep', stuff like that."

"Oh right…how strange…" Twilight replied. "Is that a racing term by any chance?"

Josh smiled. "Ten-four, that's where I picked it up from."

She sighed and rolled her eyes and Josh's joke.

They made their way out to the castle grounds. "Anyway, the spell?" Josh asked.

"Coming right up." Twilight replied. "Stand still."

Josh took his hands out of his pockets and stood with his feet shoulder width apart. He inhaled deeply. "Ready when you are." He said to Twilight.

Twilight took a deep breath and shut her eyes. Her horn began to glow, and an orb grew in size on the tip of it. Josh felt himself been taken off his feet and slowly dragged into the air. He didn't resist, as he thought this was part of the process. A purple bubble began to form around him. All of a sudden, it flashed brightly and then absorbed into him. The orb on Twilight's horn disappeared and he dropped back down to the ground.

"There. All set." She said.

"Great! Let's go Josh!" Without another word, Rainbow Dash grabbed Josh under the arms and swept him off his feet.

* * *

_**Like I said, this chapter was cut short, so I left it on a bit of a cliffhanger...if you can call it a cliffhanger.**_

_**Don't forget to review! :D  
**_

_**Josh**_


	4. Rainbow Dash's Learning Curve

_**Well, I can say one thing. I've officially given up trying to shorten the chapters. XD**_

_**There are gonna be parts of this story that may confuse you. That's fine. All you really need to know is, 'Josh was trying to teach Rainbow Dash something'. If you understood it, then congrats, brohoof /)**_

_**In response to some reviews**_

_**Crimson Banner – I am aware of that, but I believe that trust is easily gained in Equestria. In a world that lives and breathes love and tolerance, I don't see it being all that difficult to earn a bit of trust. I could come up with some more theories if I wanted to, but that's the big one. Plus, I don't want to clog up this A/N.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW :)**_

* * *

"Gee, you're heavy." Rainbow Dash complained as she pulled him through the sky.

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't ask to be dragged to approximately twenty thousand feet!" Josh replied.

"I've gotta get you up here somehow!" Rainbow Dash retorted. "Wait, we're much higher than twenty thousand…"

"A foot is probably a different measurement around here, seeing as your hooves are generally smaller. But this is generally twenty thousand human feet."

"And you can tell that how?"

"My Grandfather was a pilot. He taught me how to take a rough estimation of my altitude using various methods."

"Wow. That's actually kinda cool. Anyway, straight ahead. Cloudsdale."

Josh looked ahead to see a whole city floating in the sky. There was a rainbow coming off a small summit at the top of the settlement, and there was many Pegasi flying around. "Fascinating. An entire city floating in the sky built on a foundation of clouds."

"Yep. And you're about to step foot in it."

"Take us down somewhere quiet first. I don't want to cause too much of a stir, even though it is inevitable."

"I know where I'm going! I'm going to drop you down at the closet possible point, because I don't know how much longer I can hold you. You're so darn heavy."

"My weight is about just above average for my fitness level actually, thank you very much." Josh replied.

"What, heavy?"

"My weight is somewhat higher than many of my competitors, yes, but the majority of my weight comes from muscle."

Rainbow Dash bought Josh just over a small section of cloud. "Now if Twilight's spell worked, you should just be able to walk on that cloud like it was ground."

"Sure." Josh replied. "But put my down gently please."

Rainbow Dash slowly lowered her altitude until Josh's feet touched the cloud. "I can feel it." He said.

At that point, Rainbow Dash completely let go, having complete confidence that he could walk on the cloud. "According to Twilight, the spell lasts for about three days." She said.

"Plenty of time." Josh replied. "Now, since you're my tour guide, where are we going first?"

"Right this way." Rainbow Dash motioned with her hoof in the direction. Josh nodded and followed the direction she had pointed out. Rainbow Dash tended to fly more than walk, but she never went higher than about 3 or 4 meters above the cloud, as to keep Josh comfortable.

Inside, Josh was amazed at what he saw. He never saw all of Cloudsdale in the show, only sections. Now he could see how big it really was. "So what does everyone do up here?" He asked.

"This is where the weather is made." Rainbow Dash replied. "C'mon, I'll show you."

As he walked deeper and deeper in, more and more ponies began looking at him. "Hey, it's you!" Josh heard behind him.

He turned to see Derpy standing almost directly in front of him. "Oh. It's you. Derpy, right?"

"The one and only!" She replied. "What brings you up here to Cloudsdale? And how are you walking on clouds? I didn't think you could. Oh wait, is it another one of those things you bought to the party in Ponyville the other night?"

The more questions she asked, the closer and closer her face got to Josh's. Josh placed his hand on her shoulder and slowly pushed her away. _'Does this pony have any respect for personal space?'_ "It's just a spell, Derpy. Nothing fancy. Rainbow Dash bought me up here."

"Really? I thought you could'a made a flying machine. You seem to do everything else."

"Hehe. We do have flying machines, but I don't have one on me."

"Oh. Hey, could you help me out."

"Sure. What's your problem?"

She pulled a parcel out of the bag she had hanging over her shoulders. "I've gotta get this parcel to someone, but I can't read the address. Whoever wrote this has really bad writing!"

"Really? Let's have a look."

Derpy presented the parcel to Josh. He took it in his hands and bought it closer to his face. As soon as he saw the writing, he smiled.

He showed it back to Derpy and then turned the parcel around 180 degrees. "...Hey, I think I can read it now. Now I've gotta find this address…"

Josh looked at it. "Says Ponyville. That's about as much as I can help, 'cause I don't know the area."

"Aww, Ponyville? I was just there!"

She started to take off and fly forward, reading the box as she did. However, in her ignorance, she crashed into another pony. "Hey! Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry," Derpy replied, not even waiting for another response. Instead, just going straight down to pick up the parcel she dropped. She then continued flying off.

Josh looked at Rainbow Dash. "Anyway, where were we?"

"We were going this way." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Oh yeah, of course." Josh started following her again.

They walked some way up to a big looking building. "This is the weather factory. Where the weather is made." Rainbow Dash stated.

"We don't have these on Earth. As I said, the weather just kinda does itself."

"Well out here in Equestria, its all hoof controlled. Nothing happens to the clouds without us knowing about it."

"I can see from this big complex you've got here."

Rainbow Dash handed him an overcoat and a hard hat. He tried his best to put it on, but he couldn't quite get it done up. "It's a bit small."

"It's the biggest we got. It wasn't designed for someone as tall as you."

"I can tell." Josh replied. It only came about halfway down his arms and about 3 quarters of the way down his chest. He then proceeded to put the hard hat on. It was a bit small, but it was a good enough fit for now. "That'll be fine."

Rainbow Dash led him through the beginning of the tour. It looked like some sort of laboratory. "This is where they make the snowflakes. Each one is hoofmade to precision." She said.

"I see." Josh replied. "We don't have snowflakes so to speak. We just kinda have snow. No really exact shape or size. It just tends to be a bit random."

"No snow control? Gee, that must suck."

"On the contrary, it's usually loads of fun. The shape and size is irrelevant as long as their properties remain consistent."

"Uhh…right…this way."

They walked into a room with a rainbow river. Each level had a small reservoir with 1 or 2 ponies supervising.

"This is where we mix the rainbows."

"Cool. There's no pot of gold at the end of the river then?" Josh joked.

"Why would there be a pot of gold at the end of the river?"

Josh sighed. "Nevermind. It's just an old story tale from my world."

"Oh, okay…" She suddenly heard the sound of laughter that was all too familiar. She looked to the right and saw 3 ponies approaching. She grumbled annoyingly.

Josh picked up on this. He saw the approaching ponies, and put two and two together. "Acquaintances of yours?" He asked.

"You could say that." Rainbow Dash replied. "We haven't exactly been on the same page for…like, ever. We almost made up with each other once when I won a competition, but it didn't take 'em long to go back to normal." She sighed. "They take interest in you when you can do one awesome thing, but then hate you the next day…"

"Story of my life." Josh replied. "C'mon lets go, you've got no reason to confront these guys."

Rainbow Dash just started walking in the direction she would normally go when she was showing someone around the weather factory. Unfortunately, it put her right on an intercept course with the ponies she didn't exactly want to talk too. She didn't make eye contact as they came within striking distance.

"Well well well, if it isn't Rainbow Crash!?" The dark brown coated one blurted out. The others laughed along with him.

"Ugh. Get lost, Billy." Rainbow Dash retorted.

"Now what kind of greeting is that?" He replied. "Maybe your human friend here has a bit more respect?" He looked at Josh. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Hello, my name is Josh Valentine, nice of you to ask." He replied sarcastically. "I arrived here approximately three days ago via a subspace anomaly passing through my home, which resulted in a type of wormhole forming and bringing me-"

"NERD!" The smallest one blurted out. The others started laughing with him.

"I heard from a friend of mine that he came here to destroy Equestria! Can you imagine this wimpy nerd doing that!?" They laughed even harder.

'_That must be those rumours Zhengyi started.'_ "That is partially correct." Josh replied. "I have a whole arsenal of unique technologies at my disposal. I'm sure I could mount a strong offensive if I really wanted to. But I don't start fights. I end them."

"Yeah sure. A nerd like you wouldn't be able to handle a fight at all!" The one Rainbow Dash identified as Billy retorted.

"Haha, nice one, Billy." The one with a lighter brown coat replied.

"He is NOT a nerd!" Rainbow Dash suddenly stepped in.

"Oh yeah? Why not?"

"He's an athlete, like you and me."

"Hah! An athlete!? What sports does he do? Booklifting!?" The smaller one said. The others joined him in laughter.

"He does a sport from his world. He has these things called cars. Big things on wheels, with humungous power sources."

"That require allot of skill and precision to control." Josh took over.

"But I bet they don't go anywhere near as fast as us flying." The light brown one said.

"Just what I was about to say." Billy added.

"Speed is irrelevant. What is relevant is the skill required to control at whatever it is your doing. Speed doesn't seem as fast when you're up there high in the sky. You get more of a sense of speed when you're much closer to the ground."

"I bet there's a nerdy side to it he's not telling!" The smaller one said.

"I was just thinking that." The light brown one added.

"Like everything, there is an n-…logical side to everything. For example, didn't you have to learn anything about the physics of flying before you could?"

"Nope! Just flew straight into the sky!" He replied.

"Hah! You're either stupid or impulsive. Or both of the above. If something happens, how do you know how to compensate for it?"

"With my skill!" He replied.

"But if you find something going wrong, wouldn't you like to know more about it than to just try and avoid it?"

"Wouldn't that be the smart thing to do anyway?"

Josh shook his head. "The logical thing to do would be to analyse the data so you can then operate through this complication without the loss of efficiency."

"So you actually wanna hit a problem? Sounds kinda stupid to me!" The 3 of them laughed as Billy finished the last sentence.

"I hear you got attacked by the Royal Guard the second you stood off the train. Is it true you just stood there and did nothing?" The light brown one asked.

'_Gee, word travels around here by the second…' _Josh thought. "I was outnumbered over ten to one. Fighting would've been illogical."

"I don't think it was that you DIDN'T fight. I think that it was you COULDN'T fight." Billy said. Along with laughter at the end.

"Violence is never the answer. You should only attack as a last resort, or to defend yourselves. As I stated earlier, I don't start fights, I end them."

"I hear all talk, but no action. Are you afraid?"

Josh sighed. "Listen, you're boring me here, so I'm gonna cut to the chase. If you find my intelligence amusing, then you can laugh all you want, but if I find you causing me or any of my friend's grief, then you and I will have a serious problem. Got it?"

Billy's facial expression flashed for a minute. He had obviously processed what Josh had just said much better than what he's been lecturing him on for the past few minutes. However, it didn't last long until he changed back to a smug look on his face. "What'cha gonna do about it!?" He retorted.

Josh didn't hesitate in lashing his right hand out. He grabbed Billy by the chest and bought him up and towards him. "Is that a threat?" He asked. "Because if it is, I will respond with the required amount of force. Your irrational actions mean you have a slim chance of succeeding in a confrontation."

"I hear talk, but no action!"

He raised his hoof ready to deliver a blow, but then one of his friends said "leave 'em, Billy. These dweebs aren't worth it."

Billy gritted his teeth. He knew his friends were right, but them being right means that Josh would be right aswell. He didn't want to admit that. He had to think it through.

"Your friend appears to be allot smarter than you." Josh said. Rainbow Dash snickered at his remark. He released his grip from Billy's chest.

"Grr…you win this time. But just remember that you're a looooonnng way from home, so don't push your luck, pal!" With that, he turned around and departed with his 2 friends.

Josh looked at Rainbow Dash. "And that, Dear Rainbow Dash, is how to win a confrontation." He said with a smile.

"That…was actually rather impressive…" She admitted. "They were totally slaggin' you off, but you didn't even blush! Man, you've got some nerves!"

Josh shrugged. "Blushing is usually caused by embarrassment. Why should I be embarrassed about something that isn't offensive?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled lightly. "You really don't give a damn about what other ponies think of you, do you?"

Josh shook his head. "Not in the slightest. There are only three people's opinions of me that matter. Me, Myself, and I."

"Uh-huh…and you didn't even throw any punches…I'm not sure if I should be impressed or disappointed…"

"The potential costs of physically fighting outweigh the potential gains. Therefore, fighting is illogical." He started walking in the same direction they were going before they were interrupted.

Rainbow Dash followed on. "I've never seen Billy so dumbfounded in all my life." She had a huge grin on her face. "The look on his face. It was priceless."

"I beg to differ." Josh replied. "He wasn't operating at maximum efficiency. In other words, he was holding back."

Rainbow Dash's smile quickly evaporated as she then went into thought. "Holding back? What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that he had other cards in his hand. Or hoof as it were. Why he didn't play them, I don't know."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "And you can tell all this how?"

"His speech patterns, his movement, his restlessness, his eye contact. There are many factors you can use to tell these types of things." Josh replied. "But he does have a point when he says I am a long way from home."

"Yeah, what did he mean by that anyway? Your home is only a wormhole in your back garden away."

"But who in my world would believe me if I said that I had a wormhole in my back garden that lead me to a magical land of talking, flying, flamboyantly coloured ponies? What he means is that I don't have any assistance or backup whilst I'm here."

"You've got me. You've got Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, all of us behind you."

"But will that be enough?" He questioned. "If I was of accused of, let's say, murder, and none of you ponies were witnesses, who do you think they would believe?"

"I-uh...oh…I see you're point…"

"He was deliberately asking for a beatdown. He knew that if I started fighting, I'd be out of here pretty quick."

"But why would he want you gone?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

Josh shrugged. "You've known him for longer than I have. You tell me." He replied. "I don't think he wanted me gone, I think he just wanted to cause trouble."

"Hehe…wow…you are really good. Princess Luna really wasn't kidding when she said you should've taken up a job as a lawyer."

"Heh. It's nothing really. Just pure logic."

"That's great. But back to Billy. I don't think he's smart enough to pull off something like what you said."

"That was an assumption of mine also, but I can see no other logical explanation. If you remove the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

Over the time they had been talking, they finished the tour quite quickly. "Well, what now?" Josh asked.

"Well. I was wondering if you would like to come back to my place for lunch, and then you could show me how to drive, like you promised."

"Oh yeah, sure. We can do that."

"Great!" Rainbow Dash replied. "I'll take you there. It's quicker to fly to my house than to trundle along at your pace. No offense."

"None taken. As long as you can carry me, and I'm not too fat." He replied.

She chuckled as she bought herself 2 meters into the air. She put her forelegs underneath Josh's arms and pulled him up.

She flew upwards and then towards her house. It was some distance away from Cloudsdale, but not too far. "There it is." She said down to Josh.

Josh looked straight ahead and saw what was an absolutely massive house by his standards. "And you live there all by yourself?" He asked.

"Yep. Nothing too fancy, but I like it."

"Nothing too fancy? It's huge."

"Hehe, yeah, I guess it is quite big."

Josh noticed the rainbow waterfall. "Nice water feature. They cost thousands back in my world."

"Thanks. I did that myself."

She dropped him off a small walk away from the front door, landing in front of him. She then proceeded to walk towards the door. Josh followed her whilst examining the exterior of her home. "It must be like living inside a trampoline with all these clouds."

Rainbow Dash laughed. "You get used to it after a while. And they don't seem so springy."

She opened the door and walked through it. Josh following her in. "Wow. It even looks great on the inside. I wasn't sure what to expect from a cloud house."

"Hehe, yeah. As I said, I like to keep it simple."

"I like that. Not many furnishings. More room to party and host things. But still, this is a very posh, expensive house by my standards."

"Really? How much would this cost back in your world?"

Josh shrugged. "I'm no estate agent, but I can easily say anything above eight hundred thousand pounds."

"Eight hundred thousand? Is that allot?"

"That depends." Josh replied. "What do you call your currency?" He already know, but he had to act as if he had never heard of anything in this world before.

"Uh, bits."

"Right. And how much does one bit by you?"

"Uhh…well, Applejack sells big apple pies for four bits. Is that any help?"

"Ehh…yeah, sounds about the same as my currency. One pound will probably buy you a chocolate bar about this big." He represented the size with his hands. He smiled. _'Chocolate. It can be used to measure the value of any currency.'_

"Hm. Not bad…" Rainbow Dash replied. "But I've got one this big for one bit before." She represented the size with her forelegs.

"There are many factors that could be playable here. However, they are roughly the same size."

"Yeah, I get ya…anyway, lunch." She pointed to a room on the right. "The kitchen is just through there. Help yourself to whatever you want. I haven't stocked up in a while, so it might be a bit bare. I'm just going to the bathroom. Be right back."

Josh nodded and headed to the room she indicated. _'Bathroom? How does plumbing work in a cloud house…?'_

The simplicity of Rainbow Dash's house continued in the kitchen. There wasn't really much there. Although, Josh didn't really expect too much in the realm of appliances anyway, seeing as how there was no indication that they got electricity or some form of power source. _'Probably runs off the lightning caused by a storm cloud. Sounds possible considering everything else I've seen…'_

He looked up at some of the cupboards above the work surface. He opened one at random to see what it had in it. It had plates and cutlery and other utensils. He got 2 out. One for him, and one for Rainbow Dash. There was no food in it, so he just closed it and moved on.

He looked in another cupboard. No luck this time either. It had glasses in them, but he wasn't feeling very thirsty. He closed it up and moved on.

He spotted something that looked like a rectangle storage box in the middle of the worktop. He opened. His luck began to turn. It had a loaf of bread in it. He got it out and placed it on the worktop. "Now I just need something to cut it with." He said to himself.

He looked in the drawer underneath him. It had some cooking utensils in it. _'You're certainly well stocked, Rainbow Dash.'_ He pulled out one of the bigger knives and placed it next to the bread. "Well, there's bread but nothing to put in it."

He looked in one of the cupboards again, but it was filled with hay. Josh sighed. "Sorry Rainbow Dash, but I don't eat hay." He said, even though Rainbow Dash wasn't in the room to hear him.

He opened the final cupboard, but there was nothing in it. _'I guess Rainbow Dash really wasn't kidding when she said she hadn't stocked up in a while…'_

"Haven't found anything yet?" Rainbow Dash asked as she suddenly came into the room. It made Josh jump slightly at her surprise entrance, but not noticeably.

"No, nothing apart from a loaf of bread." Josh replied.

"Aw, darn. I guess I didn't really know how much I had. Sorry."

"That's allright. You can take a look, but if you don't have anything, we can go to my house. I've got plenty." He said.

"Uh, okay. Let me have a quick peak." She said. She started rummaging through all the cupboards and drawers at a much quicker pace than Josh. She found the hay, but then she said "I bet you don't eat hay, don't you?"

Josh shook his head. "No, sorry."

She sighed. "Well, it looks like that's all I've got. Sorry."

"No problem. We can just go to my house." Josh said.

"Sure, if you're not worried about me eating your food."

"Nonsense! Why would I be worried about that!? C'mon, let's go."

Josh started walking towards the door. Rainbow Dash followed him. He opened it and stepped out. Rainbow Dash followed him out, closing the door behind her.

Josh stretched his arms outwards as if he was expecting Rainbow Dash to take him off the cloud. As a matter of fact, she did. She took herself off first, then grabbed Josh under the arms and pulled him off the cloud.

She slowly began to descend. Then she got a little prank idea in her head. She gave an evil smile as she thought of it.

She was just flying along normally, the normal route to Josh's house, and then suddenly, but deliberately, she dropped him.

Josh felt his nerves spike as he felt himself falling and the loss of Rainbow Dash's grip underneath his arms. He looked up. Rainbow Dash wasn't there. He looked down. He was falling. Fast. His heartbeat raced, but he didn't panic. There was no way Rainbow Dash would've vanished out of thin air, and there was also no reason for her to suddenly drop him. He came to the conclusion that it was deliberate. That she was trying to spook him.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash appeared below him. Josh landed squarely on her back. He was actually quite surprised that his potential weight didn't break her back. She groaned slightly as Josh landed, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

They were silent for a few seconds, but then Josh started laughing. "That was awesome! I've never been skydiving before! I've always wondered what it felt like. I guess that was it."

"Haha. Oh Josh, you can be so much fun." Rainbow Dash replied.

"I can be. And I am in my opinion."

"Yeah. Your opinion…" Rainbow Dash replied as she started heading back towards Josh's house.

Rainbow Dash dropped Josh at his front door. Josh took his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He pushed it open and stepped in. Rainbow Dash followed suit. "Maybe we can discuss some of the things you should know before I teach you to drive over lunch?" He suggested.

"Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

He pushed the door closed. "Like just general stuff that you need to know." Josh replied. He motioned with his right hand in the direction for Rainbow Dash to go. Rainbow Dash walked in the direction he indicated.

They walked into the kitchen. "Let's see now." Josh grabbed the handle on the fridge doors and pulled them open. He had quite a packed fridge, but what to eat what to eat…?

"Hmm…do you like…" He noticed an instant microwave pizza at the back, "pizza?"

"Pizza?"

He grabbed it and pulled it out. He took it out of the packaging and showed it to Rainbow Dash. "One of these?" He asked. "It's just cheese and tomato."

She shrugged. "I guess we kinda have no choice now you've opened it." She replied.

"Hehe, yeah, I guess you're right." He walked over to the microwave and hit a button on it to turn it on. He pulled the door open, shoved it in, and closed it. "That'll take a few minutes, you wanna get started?" He asked.

"Aw yeah!" Rainbow Dash replied with a sudden burst of enthusiasm.

Josh pointed with his hand. "Right this way." He said. Rainbow Dash walked in the direction he pointed in. He followed her.

They walked down into the garage where Josh had everything set up. He pressed a button on the front of his computer to switch it on. "Hop in." He said, tapping the seat inside is simulator rig setup.

Rainbow Dash looked confused. "What's this? I thought we were driving?"

"We are. On a simulator. I'm not letting you loose in anything until you get some experience on a simulator."

"Aw c'mon! Pleeeeeease!?"

Josh shook his head. "Not until you get some experience. If you trash one of these cars, I won't be able to get any replacement parts."

She sighed. "Okay…"

"Besides, you'll learn allot more like this." He said.

Rainbow Dash stepped onto the seat and then sat herself down. "It's quite a hard seat. Where did you get this?"

"A friend of mine was getting rid of some parts and asked me if I wanted any. This bucket seat was on that list of things that he was throwing away, so I took it off his hands, and hey presto, here it is." He replied. "Anyway, can you reach the pedals?"

Rainbow Dash looked down she saw the 3 pedals down on the floor. She extended her hind legs to try and reach them, but they seemed a bit off.

Josh kneeled down and pulled a lever up by the pedals. He then slid them back towards her. "There should be a slight bend in your legs when you have the pedals fully depressed." He stated.

Josh locked them down in a position that he estimated would be close enough. "Try it now." He said.

Rainbow Dash went to press the gas pedal. She held it all the way down and there was a slight bend in her leg. "Perfect." She said.

"Great." Josh replied. He pointed to the pedal on the right. "This is the gas pedal. It makes you go." He pointed to the middle one. "This is the brake. It makes you stop." And finally he pointed to the pedal on the left. "This is the clutch. It's used to control the delivery of power." He tried to explain in the simplest way he could. "It's also used to change gear."

"Change gear?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Getting to that." Josh replied. By now the computer had booted up. He clicked an icon on the screen to open his internet browser. He had iRacing saved as a quick link on his browser homescreen, so he just clicked that. As he predicted, it simply said it failed to connect. "Hm. It can't make a connection…"

"What does that mean? Does it mean that something's loose in that black box?"

"No, it means it can't connect to the server – another type of computer." Josh replied. "But I think I've got a way around it." He right clicked in the top left hand corner of the screen and selected the properties option.

"What's that?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"If I can use cached data from my browser, I might be able to kick-start the client. From there, instead of having it connecting to the server, I'll try and run it off my own machine."

Rainbow Dash had a pretty dumbfounded look on her face. Josh smiled. "None of what I just told you has to make sense. It won't affect your experience." He reassured her.

"If you say so…" She replied.

Josh did exactly what he said he would do and it worked. "Now what shall we start you off with…something nice and simple…"

"But not too lame." Rainbow Dash added.

"Hmm…ah, here we go. You can start out in the Mazda MX-5. It's a pretty basic car, and will give you an idea of what to expect in the future."

"Right." She rubbed her forehooves together. "Let me at it!"

"Allright, Hotshot, you don't even know how to drive yet." Josh selected everything necessary and a pretty decent track to start learning at. He was going to introduce her to oval racing at a later date, since he knew that road course racing was a better place to start. Not that she was going anywhere.

The simulator loaded up, and Josh didn't faff around with anything, he just hit go. "You've got the wheel." He said. "Turn it left to go left and right to go right."

"Allright!"

"Now, with your right fore-" Before he could finish his sentence, Rainbow Dash mashed the gas. All the car did was sit there revving it's engine.

"Why isn't it working!?" She complained.

"I was about to tell you, but you just mashed the gas before I could." Josh replied. "Remember the gears I was talking about? Well, using your right forehoof, take hold of the stick and slide it left then up. That puts it in first gear. Make sure you hold in the clutch whilst you do this."

"Oh…" She looked at the stick and then did as Josh described. "So what now?"

"Now gently release the clutch whilst lightly pressing the gas. You should start to move."

Rainbow Dash did as Josh instructed him. A smile broadened across her face as she started to move. She suddenly flinched and whipped the wheel to the right when she realised she was heading straight on and into a wall.

"Pit Road speed limit is 37 miles an hour." He said.

The car started bouncing off the rev limiter at 36. "Okay, shift to 2nd. Same method you used for shifting to 1st, just this time, hold the stick left and pull it down."

Rainbow Dash's gearshift didn't go as she planned. She pulled the stick too quickly and didn't press the clutch in on time, so the gears crunched a bit. She took it out of gear then immediately shoved it back in. That time, it worked.

"Not bad…" Josh commented.

She quickly cleared pit road. "Now what do I do?" She asked.

"Just drive however you like. It'll be better if you get a feel for the handling before I indulge into the physics." Josh replied.

"Once you get a lap time under 1 minute 3 seconds then I'll start to move you up."

"That's all? How hard can it be?"

Josh didn't reply to that. He just gave her a look that said it all.

She quickly got the idea that if you press the brakes too hard, the wheels lockup and you just don't go anywhere. After a few laps, she was running around the 1 minute 6 seconds mark.

"Not bad for a first timer, considering this is the real deal." Josh said. "Now let me try and help you."

"Okay, but I really don't see what I'm doing wrong…" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Mmm…you're not doing WRONG so to speak…but there are a few things that could use a little…touching up."

"Like what?" She said raising a eyebrow.

"Like your steering. You're kinda all over a turn. Try to be smoother and don't weave across the track so much…"

She nodded. "..You know…I could learn allot more if I got a firsthand example from a pro…" She said with a cheeky smile.

Josh smiled. "I'm pretty good, but I'm no pro."

"You race in real life, don't you? That's a pro to me."

"Well, thanks for the encouragement, but I don't race as big time as you think."

"Let me guess…you race…umm…him?" She pointed to the Dale Earnhardt poster he had above the screen.

Josh looked at it. He chuckled. "No, he races ovals. I was aiming to race like he did, but…obviously that never happens…" He started to trail off at the thoughts of what he saw in the future. "I turn out to be a fat loser still living at his parents in the middle of his life…"

Rainbow Dash knew how much it meant to him. She knew he was hurt. But she didn't know how to comfort him. He came from a world that she didn't know anything about. "Uh…h-hey, if the Princess lets you stay, you'll have a much better life here in Equestria."

"I hope so…" Josh replied. "But then I would be an outcast. The only human in Equestria. It could take me a while to adapt to life."

"But if you're living with that magic door in your back garden, you could just hop around time, hop around worlds, do whatever. You could live like a God."

"I could, but…there's no guarantee that wormhole will be there forever. It collapse in the next few seconds, or it could collapse in the next few billion years. There's no way of knowing without more advanced technology to better understand it. I tried to get the better technology, but my people killed themselves in a stupid argument over a stupid fuel source."

Rainbow Dash sensed his anger growing. "What stupid fuel source? Isn't that what's in the cars you drive?"

"Yeah, but it's not sustainable. That's why we needed to find another one. We could've done, but no, my people had to go into a massive global nuclear war to fight for the last drops!" He sighed. "…Rainbow Dash…I'm just worried that if I bring all my technology into this world, then I may get asked to share it with you ponies so you can use it. I don't want to start the same problem that happened in my world in this world."

"Ohh…" She could see the point he made.

"Perhaps it would be better if I just left…"

"…Well, you've got my word, I won't tell Princess Celestia about anything you've got here. But to be honest, if your people started a war, I'm pretty sure that you'd be able to defend yourself if Celestia chose to take it by force. Not that anything like that ever happens in Equestria…"

Josh shook his head. "I don't think I've got anything on Celestia. She's got the power to raise and lower the sun. I've got nothing on that."

"I thought that too…" Rainbow Dash replied. "Just don't think about it, Josh. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Dash." He replied. "Now anyway, enough of my blabbering, where were we?"

"Oh. You were gonna give me a demonstration?" She said with a smile.

Josh chuckled. "Allright, if you insist. Hop out." Just as he finished speaking, the microwave beeped to say that pizza was ready.

"I'll get that!" Rainbow Dash said. Before Josh could respond, she flew out of the room and into the kitchen. Josh chucked as he slid himself into the chair. _'I hope she doesn't burn herself…'_

Rainbow Dash quickly returned, pizza in hooves. "Just put it down wherever theres space." Josh said.

"Sure thing." She replied. She put it down on a small box next to where she was sitting.

"Help yourself." Josh said.

"I was going to." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh laughed. _'You're welcome.'_

Rainbow Dash took up a slice and put it in her mouth. "Well, come on up." Josh said, patting his lap.

Rainbow Dash looked confused. "You want me…to sit on your lap…?"

Josh nodded. "To show you how it's done." He replied.

"Uh, okay…" She bought herself up and eased her way onto Josh's lap. She felt a tad awkward about the position.

"Put your forehooves on the wheel." Josh said.

"I thought you were driving?" She objected.

"I am. But this is gonna help you learn." He replied.

Rainbow Dash got an idea of what he was doing. "Oh right, sure." She put her hooves around the wheel.

"Now put your hind hooves on top of my feet." He said. Rainbow Dash did so. "Now put pressure on them very gently. Not too hard." He felt her push a little bit, but not too much. Just like he asked.

He put his hands on top of her forehooves. "And here we go." He hit the reset button and pulled her hoof to move it with his hand. He shifted to 1st and pulled off of Pit Road and accelerated to the first corner.

He was looking over Rainbow Dash's left shoulder. He quickly glanced at her as he approached turn 1. He won't lie to himself; he did have a thing for the cyan Pegasus. She was his favourite out of the main 6. Mainly because her personality was so much like his. He felt like just forgetting about the driving and just cuddling her, but not only would that be a bit weird, but he has a point to prove. He wasn't just gonna back down now.

He turned into turn 1. "This track is called Okayama. It's in a place in my world called Japan." He explained, thinking she'd like a little trivial knowledge. "This is the first road course I ever drove."

"Road course? What's that?"

"A road course is a track that goes left and right. An oval is literally what it says. An oval."

"Oh I get it." Rainbow Dash replied. "But why would you want to drive an oval?"

Josh drove through a set of esses as she spoke. "It's allot harder than you think." He began. "Oval racing is mostly about pack racing. These kind of road course races you don't get many competitors. You get about 10 or 20 cars out on track at any one time. In NASCAR, the world's premier oval racing series, you have up to 43 cars on track. It takes skill to control a car doing over 200 miles per hour whilst racing bumper-to-bumper side-by-side with other cars trying to do the same. And that without factoring the laws of physics."

"I see. Can I try oval racing?"

"No, you need to learn road course racing first. There are a few things you need to learn that generally are best learnt on road courses." Josh stated. "But I'll let you try and race ovals later if you want."

"Okay, sure."

Josh completed the first lap. "Feel free to ask any questions as I'm demonstrating." He said.

"Okay, first of all," Josh got the impression a list was coming on, "I can feel your foot sliding across the brake pedal towards the gas. Why's that? What are you doing? Surely you don't want to be speeding up whilst your slowing down? Or vice versa."

"It's called heel and toe downshifting." Josh replied. "It's used to keep the car stable under braking. Mainly only used on rear wheel drive cars."

"Rear wheel drive?"

"That's the wheels that are being driven by the engine. The rear ones. There's also front wheel drive, and 4 wheel drive."

"Surely 4 wheel drive would be best then?" She stated.

"Nope, not all the time. But I'm not gonna dive into all the physics at the moment." He said.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I don't need to know that anyway." She replied.

'_You have no idea…'_ Josh used the technique he'd just been describing to her to brake into the first turn and then turned in. "You know how you were telling me to only stay in one part of the track?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you using all of it?"

"Oh. Well, that's what's called the racing line. It's the fastest way around any track. Look I'll show you."

He approached turn 2. "There's my braking point." He gave a running commentary. "And there's my turn-in point." He turned in. "I'm aiming for the apex, which is the point in the turn where all steering must be completed." The right wheels ran over the apex. "And then I start feeding the wheel back out slowly." He slowly straightened up the car. "And that's all there is too it."

"You make it look so easy." Rainbow Dash replied. "It must've taken you years to perfect that."

"As a matter of fact, it did." Josh replied. "That's why I'm showing you all the tricks right now, so it doesn't take you an eternity to learn it all. My days may be numbered, so I want to teach you as much as possible while I still can."

Josh completed the lap and set a time of "1 minute 2 point 2 seconds!?" Rainbow Dash announced. "How the hay am I supposed to do that!?"

"Hey, I'm the pro here, you've just started. It takes time to get it right. I don't expect you to do that either. A good 1 4 or 1 3 is a competitive time around here…now you try."

Josh took his hands off her forehooves and spread his legs so she could reach the pedals.

"Oh-er." His quick changeover caught Rainbow Dash off guard slightly.

She came into turn 1 and tried to process everything Josh had said to her. She made a through, a little sideways, but not too bad. "Your heel and toe was allright I guess." Josh commented. "Although you lift off the brake a little too much when going for the gas."

"Well I don't have big long feet like you. I can't reach it." Rainbow Dash complained.

"I can fix that, but not right now. Keep at it, Dash, you're doing fine." He said.

"But I concluded that that would be inefficient." Rainbow Dash mocked, imitating Josh's voice and accent.

"Ouch. Careful there, 'cause some of those insults'll come back to haunt you, Skittles." He retaliated.

They both chuckled at their insults to each other. "Now if you'll excuse me, while you're practicing, I'm gonna get something to eat." He attempted to sneak out from underneath her. "You might have to squidge over so I can get out."

Rainbow Dash moved over to the left a tad so Josh could slide himself out. He came out and stood on his feet. He stretched a little then grabbed a slice of pizza. He then perched himself on the side of the simulator to watch Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash ran a few more laps, but she only managed to get up to a 1 minute 6 second time. "Now let's try and think about the laws of physics." Josh said.

"I don't know the laws of physics." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Oh no, not everything. Just things that might help you understand the car and how it works, so you can drive faster."

"Well what would you say?" Rainbow Dash said as she came around the final turn.

"Try thinking more about weight transfer." Josh replied.

"Weight transfer?"

Josh nodded. "The more weight you put on the tires, the more grip they have. This also affects how the car handles. If you feel it sliding around more, try applying a little bit of gas. On the contrary, if it isn't turning at all, try slowing down a bit."

"Uhh…I think I get it…"

"It's not that difficult if you think about it. Slowing down, weight goes to the front. Speeding up, weight goes to the back. Try it now."

Rainbow Dash tried to process what Josh was telling her and what she was trying to do at the same time. She managed to do what Josh described, but at the wrong place.

Josh shrugged. "Meh. Sort of." He said. "What you did there was slowing down where you should be speeding up. Try completing all braking before you reach the corner. In other words, try and do things in order instead of all at the same time."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "It makes sense, I guess…"

"Hey, when do I not make sense?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"…Mmmm…no." Josh replied. "I make sense to me"

"But that's about it." She finished.

"Hehe, yeah."

Rainbow Dash was approaching the 2nd turn. She tried to do what Josh said, and for the first time, she was successful. "That's what I'm talking about, nice turn!" He praised.

"It felt kinda slower." Rainbow Dash said.

"It will do, but it was actually faster and will pay off in the long run, because the tires won't wear out as fast?"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "The tires won't wear out as fast? What does that mean?"

"Well, over the course of a race, the tires will eventually wear out and start losing grip. Eventually, you'll have to pit for new ones. By driving smoothly, like you just did there, not only will you save the tires, but you'll go faster aswell."

"Really? I guess that's good."

"Great. Finish the lap you're on, then try and go for your fastest using all that you've learnt."

Rainbow Dash did so. She came around the final turn to start what was hopefully gonna be her fastest lap. As she went through, she performed everything very nicely. Everything looking smooth and tidy, looking at a fast lap. She came across the line with a final time of 1:03.5. "Damn. What did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, you just need to try harder. Push. Dig deeper. Put that car right on the ragged edge of the limit of grip. Don't back off for a nanosecond."

Rainbow Dash took deep, controlled breaths as she started the next lap. She drove the car like it was on rails. As Josh watched her, he saw a reflection of himself learning to drive in her. He was pretty much in the same position as her. Admittedly, he picked it up a bit quicker than she did, but other than that, no difference.

Rainbow Dash gave it her all through the final 2 turns. Her left rear wheel stuck out a little onto the gravel, kicking a tiny amount of dust into the air. She crossed the in a 1:02.9

"Now that's a good time."Josh stated.

"Really!? 'Cause I saw the dirt kick up in my rear view and I thought that that was gonna slow me down."

Josh shrugged. "Maybe it did. But on the contrary, if you backed off to try and avoid the gravel, you may not have gone as fast. But that's not the point. How did you do a time that fast whilst looking in your mirror?"

"Well…I sorta just saw a speck of dust out of the corner of my eye. I looked up at it to take a look, and then back down at the track. It didn't take me that long."

Josh chuckled. "Skittles, you don't wanna looking in your rear view on the last lap. The only thing you should be concentrating on is the checkered flag."

She sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry." She replied. "And please don't call me Skittles. It sounds creepy."

Josh chuckled. "Now, you've got 2 options here. You can either continue on road courses, or go to ovals. Your choice."

"Hmm…you like ovals better don't you?"

Josh nodded.

"Then I guess I'm going ovals." She said with a smile.

"Okay then. Let me set it up." Josh grabbed the mouse and exited the simulator. He then proceeded to change a few settings. Along with the track and the car. "How do you pronounce this guys last name? It's got a D and a T on the end of it."

Josh didn't even have to look to know who she was talking about "Just put a D in heart and say it in a more southern accent like Applejack. Earnhardt."

"Oh I see! Earn-hart!" She repeated it a few times to get it into her tongue. "So what did Earnhardt drive?"

Josh had just finished setting up his next challenge for her. "He drove vehicles sanctioned by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. Or NASCAR for short."

"I see. Am I driving a NASCAR now?"

"Mmm. Sort of." Josh replied. "It's called a Late Model. A type of stock car. It's like the first step on the stairway to the top."

"Oh right. Well, if this isn't the top, what do the top cars look like?"

Josh sighed. He grabbed a chain that was hanging around his neck. Rainbow Dash had only just seen it now since she'd never noticed it before. _'I've never noticed him wearing a necklace…'_

"Like this." Josh drew it out from his chest and presented it to her. It had 3 different pieces on it. The piece he was showing her was a replica of Dale Earnhardt's 1998 black #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. The car he won the Daytona 500 in. it was about 2 inches long.

"Is that a toy?" Rainbow Dash giggled. "Aren't you a little old to be playing with toys?"

"This model is about 14 years old, so the top cars look a little different now." Josh replied. "AND IT'S NOT A TOY!"

"Hehe. Whatever you say."

The simulator loaded up. "Well, here we are. Lanier Speedway. A poin mile short track with a little banking. Very short straightway's mean little changes in technique can make huge improvements on the track."

"Little changes?"

"Yep. That means you can get your technique finalized and then you can go compete in the real thing. Either that or I can take you for a real drive."

"Mmmm…I'll stick with this simulator for a little while longer. Perhaps when I've got the hang of this car then you can take me out for real."

"Very well. Would you to sit on my lap and have me give you a run through again?"

"Uhh. Sure." She replied. She flapped her wings and hovered in the air a little, making room for Josh to get in. Josh climbed into the chair and sat in a comfortable position. He felt a little cramped with the pedals being where they were, but he didn't worry about it too much. It wasn't affecting his performance, only his comfort.

Josh put his hands on top of Rainbow Dash's forehooves and Rainbow Dash gently pressed her hind hooves onto Josh's feet. Josh shifted to first and gently pressed the gas. "I've already explained the difference between road course and ovals, so now I better explain the techniques." Josh explained. "For a start, there is no downshifting normally whilst racing. You put it in top gear and go."

Josh made his way through the gears. He made it seem so effortless. "And also, you use your left hoof to do all the braking, since there's no need for a clutch."

"Oh, okay. That makes it easier."

"Yeah. The one main difference about oval racing is tires. Tires win races. The smoother you can drive the car, the more you can stop the tires wearing. The more you stop the tires wearing, the faster the car will be."

"How would I do that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Simply do the same smooth driving you were doing back on the road course, but change it a little. First of all, the brake really affects how the car handles through the turns. If you can go hold it in gently around a corner, it'll really help you turn."

Josh finished the first lap. "There's also a technique to do with the pedals called rolling. That were you slowly build up the pressure on the pedals instead of delivering it all at once. You're rolling in and off the pedals."

"Oh I get it." She said.

"Great. I'll run a few laps and give you a demonstration."

Josh just started doing what was second nature to him. Rainbow Dash watched in awe as he made it look so easy. _'This guy…is just…amazing…'_ She thought. He made it look effortless. Like he was just turning the wheel and going.

Josh completed his demonstration run. He rain a laptime of 13.8. "Okay, now you try." Josh said.

He got off and let Rainbow Dash go ahead. To his surprise, she actually picked it up surprisingly quickly. He gathered that it was all just common sense really. You didn't have to be too smart to understand some of these techniques and what they meant.

She was running around the low 14's mark. Josh lowered his head to her ear to talk to her. "Try backing up the corners a bit more and try to come up the track a little more. Right at the bottom isn't always the best way round."

"I'll try, but that's where you've been telling me to go for the apex on the road courses."

"This is an oval. There is no apex so to speak. Sometimes running a little higher line will pick you up some time. And if you slow down earlier, you can speed up earlier."

"I think I understand, but some of these things-"

"Contradict what you've learnt on the road course, I know. But ovals are different, and it's a difficult concept to get your head around. Just try your best, Dash. Keep digging."

Rainbow Dash wasn't one to give up easily. She immediately dropped the hammer and tried to compile what Josh had said to her. It was all a bit strange to her, as she was now kind of having to bend what she had just learnt to suit ovals. She initially didn't think they'd be that much different. In fact, she thought ovals would be easy. But no. they are just as challenging.

She ran a few laps, showing signs of struggling, but in the end, she just hit a 14 dead.

She sighed. "That was REALLY hard. How did you get it down into the 13's?"

"Just practice, Rainbow Dash. You get faster the more you practice. You now know and understand all the techniques, so I guess all you could really do now is study the physics and sciences behind it. Then go practice some more and see what happens."

"Ugh. Spare me all the complicated mumbo jumbo please." She replied. "Can I go out for real now?"

Josh sighed. "Come on." He said as he started walking towards the garage exit. Rainbow Dash hopped out of the chair and followed him. "I've just gotta move my Mums car so I can get the others out." He said.

"Okay." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh found the keys to the car up in his parents' bedroom. He then hopped inside the car and reversed it out, making room for him to get one of his race cars out.

He signaled with his hand for Rainbow Dash to get in. She nodded and went to get in the passenger seat. "No, no, I meant the driver's side." Josh replied.

Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up. "Really!? Your just gonna let me loose!?"

Josh smiled as he went around to the passenger's side. Rainbow Dash flew over the car and hopped in the driver's seat.

"Now, the first thing you should know is that it is allot louder than the simulator. We won't be able to talk to each other without shouting at the top of our voices, so I'm gonna keep chatter to a minimum. Also, please try to take it easy. I don't have very many replacement parts here, so repairs will be a bit of an issue."

"Okay, I got it."

"Right. Start 'er up." Josh said.

"Gotcha. Erm. How do I do that?" She examined all of the buttons and dials on the dashboard and the center console.

"Flick the switch that says master battery." Josh instructed.

Rainbow Dash looked around until she saw it. She slid her left forehoof underneath it and flicked it up.

"Now engage the master fuel pump." Josh said next.

Again, Rainbow Dash looked around the centre console to find the switch. It wasn't difficult, considering they were all labeled. She flicked it up, and there was immediately a faint buzzing noise. She began to think that she did something wrong.

"Don't worry, that's just the pumps engaging." Josh reassured. "Now click the button that says starter. A small red light should flick on when you do."

Rainbow Dash had the button in her vision already. She clicked it in and a small red LED light above it flashed on.

"Now, whenever you're ready, hit the ignition."

Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply and bought her hoof up to the button. She then pressed it in. The engine fired up and into life. It was quite loud.

"This isn't loud!" Josh shouted over the sound of the engine. "Wait until the engine starts revving! Now, the first thing you should know is that this car operates on a sequential shifter! That means you only have to pull this" he pointed at the shifter "towards you to shift up, and push it away from you to shift down! I'll show you! Clutch in!"

Rainbow Dash started at her hind hooves and depressed the clutch. She looked at Josh with a look that said she'd put it in.

Josh pulled up on the lever and pointed to a display mounted on the dashboard. "That means it's in gear 1! If I pull it up again" he did so "2nd gear! If I push it down" he hit it down "back down to 1st! Get it!?"

"Loud and clear!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Okay! There's no course to follow, so just drive and don't hit anything! Well, in your own time!"

Rainbow Dash started to pull away. She steered off to the left and just drove in a normal way. The way in front of them was quite clear. "Open the taps a little!" Josh said.

Rainbow Dash put her hoof down a bit more. "Shift point is at 7000 RPM. You don't need to use the clutch on upshift, just come off the gas!" Josh instructed.

Rainbow Dash didn't feel right not using the clutch on the shift, but she knew that Josh knew what she was doing. She shifted up the gears as she sped along the flat. The noise was really deafening. She felt like her eardrums were about to explode. But at the same time, it felt kinda good. Like it was all part of the experience.

"NOW TRY THE BRAKES!" Josh shouted. He had to shout at the top of his voice to be heard.

Rainbow Dash pressed down on the brake pedal, but she didn't realize quite how hard it was. She pushed harder and harder until it felt like they were slowing down. The first thing she noticed is the G-forces that she doesn't get on the simulator. She felt like her eyeballs were going to pop out of their sockets and her head and neck would be ripped from her body.

She turned the wheel and felt the weight shifting in the car. She began to understand what Josh was saying about weight transfer and how it affected the handling.

She did a couple more runs before Josh told her to pull over. Once they had parked it near Josh's house, Josh flicked it off. "I'm sorry it can't be more fun, but there's not really a track to drive around here."

"No problem! That was awesome!" She said. "I can't believe that's your job."

"Not so much of a job as of yet. More like a hobby." Josh replied. "But there are people who are paid millions to drive."

"And you're gonna be one of them?"

Josh sighed. "Was gonna be one of them…"

"Oh yeah…well I'm sure you'll find something here in Equestria you like. Say, if you can get your hands on one of those flying machines you were talking about, maybe I could teach you to fly?"

Josh chuckled. "Getting my hands on a 'flying machine' will be easier said than done."

"Not with that magic doorway in your back garden! You can just go get anything you want and then bring it back."

"Yeah, but it's a bit more difficult than that. First of all, they are allot bigger than you can probably imagine. About 2 and a half times the size of these cars."

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "Seriously, that big!? Why do you need to make them so big?"

"To house the engine and so that they can have a bigger wingspan. The bigger wingspan means that they can get more lift to get off the ground."

"Can you just make a more powerful engine?"

Josh shook his head. "More powerful engine means more weight which means more lift is required to get it off the ground."

"But…wouldn't adding more stuff increase the weight anyway?"

"Yes, but the potential gains outweigh the potential losses. Therefore, they do not impair performance."

"Oh. Right."

Josh proceeded to get out of the car. Rainbow Dash followed him. Josh walked back into the garage and looked at the clock. It was 3:30pm. "Well, I've still got another 1 and a half hours before Shining Armor and Twilight get here, is there anything you wanna do?"

"Ermm….is there anything else you can teach me about driving?"

Josh smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that." He replied. "How would you like to try what we call restrictor plate racing?"

"Uh, sure. What's restrictor plate racing?"

"I'll tell you once I've got your computer set up." Josh replied as he went out of the garage and headed for the stairs.

"Whoa, whoa, where ya goin?" Rainbow Dash called as she followed him.

"Just upstairs." Josh replied. He turned right at the top of the stairs and then went into the furthest room. He immediately spotted the computer in the corner and started unplugging it all.

"What are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, how we gonna race each other if you don't have a computer?" He asked.

"Race each other? You mean on the simulator? How are we gonna do that?"

"Quite easily." Josh replied. "But first I need to get this computer setup downstairs so it will work."

Josh finished unplugging it all and pulled the main unit with all the wires up. "Can you grab the screen?" He asked as he went towards the stairs.

"Uh, sure." Rainbow Dash replied. She picked it up in her forelegs and turned around to follow Josh.

Once Josh had made it back down to the garage, or his room as he called it, he cleared some room on one of the work tables. He used a very advanced method. Basically, he just shoved everything out the way. "Put the screen up there." He said.

Rainbow Dash complied and put the screen up on the table. Josh then plugged the computer into a plug socket and wired everything back up. He turned it on to let it boot up. "Hold on." He said. He went to the other end of the garage and started rummaging through all the assorted junk he had. Once he had cleared most of it out of the way, he found what he was looking for. Another wheel and pedals for computer.

He bought it to the computer and clamped it all down on the desk. He then wired it all up. "Now all you need is a chair." He said. "I'm afraid I don't have anything fancy for you to use, but what I can get should suffice for now. Hold on, I'll just go get it."

Josh went out into the main hallway and then into the dining room. He got a chair from there and bought it back for Rainbow Dash. "I don't know what it will be like, but I can get a box for the pedals if you can't reach."

Josh placed the chair down in front of the steering wheel. Rainbow Dash hopped onto it and tried it out. "It's fine." She said. "A little tall, but fine."

"If you say so." Josh replied. He fired up the simulator on Rainbow Dash's computer and then went back over to his to setup the simulator.

"We're gonna be racing around a track called Daytona International Speedway. It's a 2 and a half mile oval, 31 degrees in the banking. What's special about this place is that you don't have to slow down at all for the whole lap. You can just keep your foot down. The only thing you have to worry about is the other cars around you. This is where we utilize a technique called drafting."

"What's drafting?"

Josh clicked a few things to setup the race for them both. He set it to a quick 50 lap race. That way it would be short enough so Rainbow Dash wouldn't get bored, but long enough so strategy came into it aswell.

"Drafting is when you follow the car in front of you. When you follow the car in front of you, the car in front of you breaks the air, meaning that there is less wind resistance, meaning that you can drive faster. Also, when you get close enough to the guy in front of you, you break the wind resistance on the back end of his car, making the pair of you go faster."

"Cool. So it's sorta like a turbo boost?"

"Yeah, I suppose it is kinda…" Josh clicked a few buttons. "Something should've popped up on your screen. Click on it. If you're allright using the mouse with your hoof."

"Uh. Oh, I see it." Rainbow Dash moved the mouse and clicked on it. She read the race details. "The car is a Chevrolet Imp-ala. Is that the same car as your toy?"

"It's pronounced Im-pala. And yeah, it's the same as my toy…wait. No it's not! I mean yes! I mean it's not a toy!"

Rainbow Dash laughed. "Oh no? Then what it is?"

"It's a…a good luck charm. A memory…"

"Haha. You can call it a good luck charm all you want, but that doesn't mean it's not a toy."

"It's NOT a toy, Skittles! I bet you've got jewelry that in a somewhat different than usual shape.

"Not really. And even if I did, that would be jewelry. Not a toy."

"It's not a toy! It's a solid cast! Toys are usually made out of multiple parts."

"But that did have multiple parts on it. I counted 4 including the chain."

"You need a chain to make a necklace in the first place! And those 3 things are separate charms. I got them separately."

"Technically there are only 2 charms on it, since the other one is a toy."

"Ugh! I give up!" Josh facepalmed with his left hand whilst using his right hand on the mouse to change some of the settings. He set it to randomly throw them anywhere on the starting lineup.

"I've set it up to just start us anywhere randomly, Skittles, so we can just jump straight into the race."

"Allright." She replied. "Can we start now?"

"Yep, sure." Josh clicked the start button. A loading screen appeared for a short amount of time, and then all of the sudden they were in the cockpit of the cars. "What position are you starting in? It should say at the bottom right hand of the screen."

"Uhh…" Rainbow Dash looked around until she saw the position indicator. "17th."

"I'm starting 32nd. The guys around us are all computer generated AI cars. They are sort of realistic, but don't expect too much of them. I'll try and give you more info as we go along. In the meantime, just try and stay in line and work your way to the front."

They completed the pace lap and then they were off. Josh knew all about this style of racing, so he just sat back and waited it out. After 20 laps, the field had spread out a bit, so Josh began moving forward. Rainbow Dash had already moved up to 8th and was starting to get the hang of this style of racing.

"Hey Josh, I just discovered that if cars are running side-by-side, they don't go as fast. So I've just been staying single file the whole time and ran everyone down."

"That's exactly what you should be doing, Skittles. Nice job." Josh replied. "Might wanna consider pitting soon though. I set it up so we run about 5 laps short on fuel if we don't pit."

"What? Why would you do that?"

"For strategy. It's all part of racing."

"…Well, I'm not gonna be too good at that, so I'll just go when you go. Also, who's this guy who keeps talking to me? He's saying stuff like inside, outside, basically directing me."

"That's your spotter. He'll keep you updated so you can concentrate on racing. He'll tell you where other cars are around you."

"Oh right. That's useful."

About 2 laps later, Rainbow Dash noticed a light pop up on her virtual dashboard. "A light just came on. There's a dial that says water on it. What does that mean?"

"It means your overheating. You need to back off the bumper of whoever is in front of you. When you're in the draft, your air intake to cool the engine is slightly blocked. The closer to get to the guy in front of you, the more blocked it becomes. Eventually you'll overheat and you're engine will blow. Try backing off or running in some clean air."

"Okay I'll try, but I might lose positions if I drop back too much. But then I might overheat if I don't…"

"Yep. That's this little thing called racing, Skittles. Decisions can make or break your race. Make sure you choose correctly."

It didn't take Josh too many laps longer to carve his way up the field to near where Rainbow Dash was. "Rainbow Dash, come up to the high side and we'll work together."

"Whaddya mean work together?"

"Tandem drafting. I'll give you a little bump and push us both to the front."

"But that will leave me exposed and easy to pass. Can't you come down to me?"

"No, there's a car behind you, I can't move down. You need to come up. Trust me. Once we're hooked up, we'll run much faster than the pack."

"…Alright, I'm coming up." She jumped up in front of Josh. Josh immediately gave her a little nudge. "Whoa!" She weaved a bit, but nothing she couldn't handle. "Can you be a bit gentler?"

"The car will feel looser when I'm pushing, but that's normal. C'mon, let's work our way to the front."

To her surprise, they really did go allot faster working together. Josh pushed her for a few laps before saying "I'm overheating, we need to switch. That means you have to stay high, I'll pass you, and then you push me."

"Okay. Well do it in turn 1." She said.

"10-4." Josh replied.

They made the switch in turn 1. Josh caught the back bumper of Rainbow Dash's car a little bit, but nothing too serious. As soon as he cleared Rainbow Dash, she tucked in behind his car. She was a little unsure about pushing, because she didn't know how the cars were going to react.

She gave Josh a little nudge. "Whoa, careful there, RD. you need to be perfectly square with my car when your pushing me. Otherwise you might spin me out. Try coming off the gas a touch when you near my bumper, so that way it won't feel as harsh on my end."

"Okay, I get ya." She replied.

They ran pretty fast when Josh was pushing, but not so much when Rainbow Dash was pushing. She was slowly improving over the course of the race though.

Around about lap 35, Josh said "let's pit this time around." He wasn't going to indulge too deep on strategy at the minute. "Star slowing for pit road coming off of turn 4." He said.

"Got it." She replied.

In actual fact, she could've braked allot later, but Josh didn't want her to run into him going onto Pit Road.

They started slowing for the pits. "Look out for your pit box. You should see a guy standing in front of the box that's yours." He said.

"Yeah I see him now." Rainbow Dash replied.

"The speed limit is 55 miles per hour. Or 4000 RPM in 2nd gear." He said.

They had pretty good pit stops. They got out and clear in a good time. "Stay on the apron, the flat bit of the track you're on now, through turns 1 and 2 and then merge on the backstretch." He instructed.

They immediately got hooked back up once they were back on track.

Coming to 5 laps to go, Josh heard someone knocking at the door. He quickly glanced up at the clock. It was 5PM. "COME IN!" He called.

He heard the door open and voice that were familiar. He knew that Twilight knew where she was going.

They met Josh and Rainbow Dash whilst they were waiting. At that point, Josh and Rainbow Dash crossed the line in the lead by 3 seconds with 4 laps to go. "My lights started blinking, swap in turn 1." Rainbow Dash said.

"10-4." Josh replied. He went high and Rainbow Dash snuck underneath him.

"What are you doing?" Asked Twilight.

"Oh, I'm teaching Rainbow Dash how to drive. I decided that she'd benefit more on a simulator since that's actually got a course to follow. There's no track here in Equestria for her to learn."

"And I've been enjoying every second of it. Some of it's been quite confusing though." Rainbow Dash added.

"Uh, cool." Twilight replied. "Are we gonna do that thing you were talking about Josh?" Asked Twilight.

"Yeah, 10-4, give me 4 laps." Josh replied. "And Skittles, there's no switching from now. You don't wanna be lookin' at dials with 4 to go."

"Really? So I've won basically?" She asked.

"Ha! You think I'm gonna let it slip away that easily? You'd be mistaken. We may have worked together for most of the race, but this is still racing for position. You better watch out on that final lap."

"Game on!" Rainbow Dash replied.

Twilight walked over to watch Rainbow Dash. Shining Armor watched Josh. The laps went down. 3 to go. 2 to go. "White flag is in the air, 1 more lap to victory lane for one of us!" Josh announced.

"Josh stay right around the bottom of the track." Twilight told Rainbow Dash. "It's the shortest distance, therefore the fastest distance."

Josh glanced over at Twilight. _'Very good, Miss Sparkle. But unfortunately the laws of physics work both ways.'_

Rainbow Dash did exactly what Twilight told her to do. Run right along the bottom of the track. Josh pushed her down the backstretch and into turn 3. He then broke to the high side going into turn 4. He had his fender over her quarter panel, and then took a burst of speed coming off turn 4 into the tri-oval.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Rainbow Dash said to herself. But it was a bit too little. She saw Josh beginning to go past him. "What!? No! C'mon! No! This can't be!"

Josh had gone past her on the high side. He beat her by 3 one thousandths of a second. "YEAH BABY!" Josh screamed out, punching the air from the cockpit.

Rainbow Dash was speechless. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung wide open. "B-b-bu-but h-h-how did you-"

"I had the same trick pulled on me a few months ago. And I don't make the same mistake twice." He looked at Twilight. "Whilst you were correct Twilight, the shortest distance is generally the fastest, the longer line allows me to take it at a higher speed. Doing so gave me a boost coming out of the turns. A boost great enough for me to edge out Rainbow Dash."

"That's…that's impossible. I was winning. The line was in sight. And then you just swoop around the outside. It just doesn't make sense…"

"Trust me RD, things get clearer the more you race. Whilst some things may seem illogical, you will actually find them quite effective out on track."

"So, now that's over, can we try and do some more experiments now?" Asked Twilight.

"Sure." Josh replied. "Dash, come to a stop anywhere on the track and hold down the escape key. It's the key at the very top left hand corner of the keyboard, and it says ESC on it."

Rainbow Dash looked around. "Ah!" She held it down like Josh told her. All of the sudden, she was back at the starting menu.

"I'll shut it all down later. For now, we've got some experimenting to do." Josh said as he hopped out of his chair. "Shall we?" He pointed to the door.

Twilight nodded and headed in the direction he indicated. Everyone else followed on. "So, Captain Armor, did Twilight tell you anything about what we've been doing here?"

"Uhh, yeah." Shining Armor replied. "And I've sorta got a rough understand of how this electricity thing works, but it seems a bit complex. Like there's"

"so many variables." Josh, Twilight, and Shining Armor spoke at the same time.

"I guess there is. But hey, without them, it wouldn't work, so," Josh shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah. I've only got most of my understand though a memory transfer spell Twilight used to show me better."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "A memory transfer spell? So you immediately learn everything she knows about this already?"

"Not exactly." Twilight replied. "It's all there. Everything I've learnt is there. However, it's up to him how he interprets it inside his head."

"Which I hope is the right way." Shining Armor added.

"As do I." Josh replied. "I don't wanna take us all into some weird place by accident. Who knows what lurks out in other universes…?"

They made their way to the wormhole in the back garden. "Right. Now, what I need you to do is build up as much power as you possibly can then hit the wormhole with it. Got it?"

"Uhh…yeah. That's it?" Shining Armor asked.

"That's it." Josh replied.

"Oh. Okay. Should be simple enough."

"Yeah, just effort." Josh said.

They stood 5 meters to the left of the wormhole. "Start building up energy at your discretion." Josh stated.

Twilight and Shining Armor looked at each other. They both nodded. They then looked ahead and closed their eyes. They gritted their teeth as their horns started glowing and building up power.

"When you can't take anymore, release it. But make sure you both do it together." Josh instructed.

They groaned as they started taking in the raw energy. The magic aurora started playing havoc with wind speed and direction.

"N-now?" Asked Twilight.

"Wait." Shining Armor replied in an agitated tone. Twilight took this as just a sign of concentration.

"Shining, I can't-"

"Waaaiiiit."

Twilight kept trying her hardest to keep up with her big brother. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, but she also trusted her brother's judgment. She just kept digging.

"NOW!" He called.

The 2 Unicorns released all their magical potential into 1 big beam that combined both of their abilities. It hit the wormhole and made the ground shake. The wormhole flashed brightly, enough to disorientate everyone and throw them off their feet, and then slowly began to die down.

Josh bought himself to his feet and blinked a few times to clear his vision. He rubbed his head a little.

"Did it work?" Asked Rainbow Dash as she sat up.

"Only 1 way to find out." Josh replied as he headed towards the wormhole. "I'm going in alone. You 3 stay here."

"No, I'm coming with you." Twilight replied as she and her brother bought themselves to their feet.

Josh sighed. "Twilight, I-"

"We don't know what's on the other side of that. If whoever or whatever it is isn't friendly, you might need some help." She said.

"But I don't want you to get hurt." He said.

"And I don't want you to get hurt." She replied.

Josh sighed. "Allright, but be very careful. A Unicorn might make for some interesting stories around wherever we've were going."

Twilight began to walk towards the entrance. "Wait." Shining Armor interrupted just before they were about to enter. "I'm coming too."

Josh sighed. "Listen buddy, you've been a real help, but-"

"Princess Celestia assigned me to assist you. And if you look under section 3, page 114, chapter 2, subsection 12, paragraph 6 in the Royal Guard Code of Conduct, it clearly says that assistance also means protection. If anything over the other side of this thing poses a danger or a threat, it is my duty to protect you."

Shining Armor started at him with a committed look. _'Why do I get the impression he didn't just make that up...?'_

Josh sighed. "I guess you outrank me. Captain…C'mon lets go, but please, try and keep a low profile."

"Wait, what about me?" Rainbow Dash said.

Josh sighed as he spun around to face Rainbow Dash. "Skittles, the more of us that go through, the harder it will be for us to keep a low profile. Please, just stay here. We'll be back as quick as we can."

"But I-"

"Stay here." Josh said sternly.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Okay…" She looked away with a humph.

Josh looked at Twilight and Shining Armor. He nodded. They nodded in return. They then all looked forward and proceeded to go through the wormhole.

They slowly went through and emerged on the other side. And what Josh saw he really liked. He felt like he right at home in his natural habitat…

* * *

_**Ohhhhhh and that's another cliffhanger. And it also rounds off the longest chapter in the story so far. :D**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW **_


	5. An Unfortunate Ending

_**Why hey there Everypony. Wow, I really wasn't expecting to be done with this chapter so quickly. But then again, it is a short one, so it kinda works out :)**_

_**Some parts may seem a little odd or confusing, but it's supposed to be like that. Don't worry, all will be revealed in the next chapter ;)**_

_**I tried to tone down the technical explanations a bit to make it easier for people to understand, but since it's quite literally me in this story, I don't wanna go OOC too much. Oh well, I tried my best. :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_

* * *

Josh recognised his house from where he stood. It didn't look much different, but then again, why shouldn't it? The sun was shining brightly today, and he could hear all kinds of activity around him.

"Where are we?" Asked Twilight.

"I'm not sure, but I can take some pretty good guesses." Josh replied. "We appear to still be on Earth, same location, but what time period or universe, I don't know. All I know is that somehow we need to keep a low profile. I get the impression that a guy with 2 unicorns will cause quite a stir."

"So what do we do? Go back?" Asked Twilight.

"Oh of course not." Josh replied. "This is a great opportunity for us to learn some more. Maybe this universe has developed a way to better control subspace anomalies than just randomly shooting electrical charges at it like we were doing."

He started walking forwards. Twilight and Shining Armour looked at each other and then followed him on. He signalled with his hand for them to go down the side of the house and out the gate.

Once they had reached the end, he tried to figure out how to open the door, but then his attention quickly deviated as he heard a familiar sound.

He looked up in the sky. Twilight and Shining Armour did also. He saw a small object in the sky, that kind of resembled an airplane, but it looked more futuristic than the airplanes he knew.

"What's that?" Twilight asked. "Is that an airplane?"

"Sort of." Josh replied. "But it looks too futuristic from what I know, so something tells me were in a different universe of an alternate future of Earth. I have a hunch we should follow them."

"You have a hunch? So were gonna go TOWARDS the people who will probably capture us?"

"Not directly." Josh replied. "We'll go undercover. We need disguises."

"Disguises? In case you forgot Josh, we're Unicorns. Where are we gonna get disguises from?" Twilight asked.

"Still working on that, but all I know is that we've got to try and get somewhere." Josh replied. He peeked around the corner and examined the neighbourhood. "Looks pretty lonely, but there's loads of open windows. We might get seen."

He looked back at them, catching an idea as he did. "Do any of you know any teleportation spells?" He asked, knowing the answer would be yes, because he'd seen them used on the TV show.

"Uhh, yeah." Twilight replied.

"How far can you teleport all 3 of us?" He asked.

Twilight shrugged. "That depends on how far you need me to go."

"Well…can you get us to the top of that hill?" He asked and pointed.

Twilight peeked her head around the corner. As soon as she saw the distance, she shook her head. "Maybe about half that." She replied.

"Okay, those houses on the corner of that left hand turn over there, that's about halfway. Can you get us to there?"

"Should be able to." She replied.

"Make it so." Josh said.

"Allright." Her horn immediately started glowing and all of a sudden they were there. Josh immediately noticed that they were out in the open and ran for cover. Twilight and Shining Armour did the same.

"That's it?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. I was just expecting something a bit more dramatic that's all. Now can you get us to the top of that hill?"

"From here, yeah." She replied.

"Great. Do it."

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. Her horn glowed and then in the blink of an eye they arrived where Josh asked. They weren't so out in the open that time.

"If everything is still the same from my time, then there should be a farm just up that road. We'll find a disguise in there."

"A farm? Where we gonna get a disguise from in there?"

"I'll explain details later." Josh replied. "For now, we have to keep moving."

Josh slowly made his way out and around onto the road. He signalled for Shining Armour and Twilight to some with him. They started walking along the dirt road. Thing's haven't really changed much from Josh's time. However many years that was ago. The main thing what that the majority of wooden structures, tools, or other things had been changed to metal ones. That was the only big noticeable thing. There was a small house they passed on the way up, but it looked abandoned.

As they went further up the road, the gradient increased gradually, but not by much. They eventually came over to a metal grating. It was just a break in the road with long metal bars in it. They were spaced about 8 inches apart. Josh could walk over them with his feet, but Twilight's and Shining Armour's hooves fell straight through the gaps when they tried to walk over them.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a-"

Before Josh could say anything, Twilight used the teleportation spell to get herself over. Shining Armour did the same. "That's one way." Josh said. "Let's keep going. We might be able to go around and cut around the back."

They continued walking. The dirt path began to degrade a little and transform more into grass. "Up here." Josh said as he made a right turn. "There should be something straight ahead."

And he was right. There was a small structure straight ahead. It was made out of wood, supported by pillars, and only had one wall. "There's our disguise." He said and pointed. Inside of the small structure there was what looked like an old horse drawn carriage.

"What? I don't get it?" Shining Armour said.

"Pony drawn carriage." Josh said simply.

"Uhh. You sure that's gonna work." Twilight asked.

"Why shouldn't it?" replied Josh.

"Well, for a start, I'm purple. And won't the horns give something away?"

"I'm sure I can bluff my way through a few situations. You're purple? Well, I'm a breeder. I was experiment with genetics and I made your coat purple. Unicorns? Just a little bit of cosmetics. I'm taking you to a child's birthday party, and I gave you a bit of a cosmetic makeover to make you look like unicorns."

"But what about what I'm wearing? Won't that be a giveaway?" Shining Armour asked, referencing to his guard uniform.

"Well that one's easy. It's either cosmetics, or you can take it off."

"Uhh. Cosmetics." Shining Armour replied.

"10-4. Now let's get you reined up." He said as they approached the cart. "Turn around and back up to it."

Twilight and Shining Armour did so. They turned around until they were facing in the same direction as it, and then slowly walked backwards towards it. "Bit more. Bit more. Perfect." Josh said. "Now to get these reins on. I've never done this before, so I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Good to know." Shining Armour replied sarcastically.

Josh grabbed the reins that were sitting in the cart. For once, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. "Uhh…right…" He started untangling them. They weren't very tangled in the first place, so that didn't take him long. "Now…where does this go?" He asked and presented a piece to them.

"I think your guess is as good as mine." Twilight replied.

"Well…it sorta looks like a shoulder piece, so…" He placed it over Twilight shoulders. "How does that feel?"

"It fits if that's what you mean." She replied.

"Right…" He grabbed another piece. "Well, this looks like it's supposed to go over your muzzle." He said. He proceeded to place it over her muzzle.

"Oww! That'sh too tight!" She said through her impaired voice by the tightness of the rein.

"It probably wasn't designed for you. There's nothing I can do about that for the moment."

"I can barwey bweath…" She said.

"Well, I'm trying my best, give me a minute!" Josh snapped back as he tried pulling it to loosen it.

"It'sh not working!" She replied.

"I've never done this before, how do you expect me to be able to fix it!?"

"Because you can fix evewything elwse!"

"Because I know what I'm doing!"

"Uh, is there a problem?" Josh heard someone behind him.

He stopped what he was doing and looked back. There was a black guy was short hair standing in front of him. As soon as Josh saw the uniform he was wearing, he knew exactly what universe he was in. _'No wonder I feel so comfortable here…' _He was wearing a yellow shirt with some black bits flowing down it. Along with black trousers and shoes. He also wore a golden pip on his collar and had a triangle shaped badge on the right hand side of his chest.

"Uh, no, everything's fine, I'm just struggling a little, that's all."

"Uh…okay…have fun, kiddo…" The guy began to back away.

"Actually Mr. Starfleet Officer, can you help me with something else?"

Twilight and Shining Armour looked at each other. "What the hay is a Shtarfweet Offwicer?" Twilight whispered to him.

"Don't know. But it seems to be working, so go along with it." Shining Armour replied in a whisper.

"What can I help you with?" The guy said as he turned back around to face Josh.

"Can you help me with this? I found it on the floor on the way up here." Josh bought his phone out of his pocket. _'Never leave home without it.'_

"Hm. What'cha got there?" He knelt down to see what Josh had in his hand. At that point, Josh hit him square in between the neck and the shoulder in a karate chop style. The guy yelped and then fell to the ground. Motionless.

Twilight and Shining Armour gasped at the same time. "Y-you killed him!?" Shining Armour exclaimed.

"I didn't kill him, I knocked him out." Josh replied. "There's a difference."

"B-but why!? Won't that make people start looking for us!?"

"Not if they don't know about it." Josh said with a wink. "See if you can figure out those reins for yourself, I'm gonna go get changed."

"Changed? What do you mean?"

"I need a disguise, right? Well, there it is." He said as he pointed to the body. He almost began to drag it, but then he decided to pick it up as to not mess up the uniform. He took it behind the structure.

Twilight and Shining Armour tried to use their magic to figure out how to get the reins on. Eventually, they got them on, but they weren't 1 bit comfortable in them.

Josh emerged from behind the building in the uniform. "How do I look?" He asked.

Shining Armour shrugged. "Like a Starfleet Officer. Whatever that is."

"Perfect. Did you get the reins on?" He asked as he climbed into the cart.

"Yep. But they feel like sitting on a bed of needles."

"Cool. Sorry, but this is the best I can do. Ponies, especially Unicorns, aren't the easiest to keep undercover. It'll have to do."

"Do you even know where you're going?" Asked Twilight.

"I've got a rough idea." Josh replied. "For now, go straight ahead. We're gonna take a back road, hopefully a bit more out of sight." He said.

Twilight and Shining Armour looked at each other. They then started moving forward, pulling the cart with Josh in it. It actually wasn't as heavy as they first thought. Perhaps it was due to it being spread evenly across the 2 of them.

"So where are we going?" Asked Twilight.

"Somewhere." Josh replied. "Just keep following my directions. I'll find out what happens next when we get to whenever or wherever that point may be."

They continued on their way as what they thought looked normal. Josh kept a careful eye on the airplane like objects flying through the sky, trying to memorize they're flight plan. He knew this would be impossible, as they probably weren't following any flight plan, but he was still curious. He knew what they were now, after understanding what fantasy universe he had just stumbled into. _'First I walk into My Little Pony…now this…it's like heaven for me…'_

They tried to bypass any major settlements they could, taking the most obscured and deserted route they could. They met the occasional person, but they didn't even seem to notice them.

"So where are we going exactly?" Twilight asked, but not before making sure no one was around.

"Just look for a building that looks like some sort of transport centre." He said.

"I don't know what those look like."

"Like a train station or an airport or something similar."

"Airport?"

Josh sighed. "Nevermind, just look for something that looks like a train station."

Eventually, they had to risk going out into more densely populated areas to try and find what Josh was looking for. He tried his best to keep a low profile, but it was all kind of difficult. He got a few looks, but nothing serious.

He tried using the map he had memorised of the town back from his time and universe to see if anything was different. Fortunately, there weren't many changes. "And if I'm right, the train station should be right…there." Josh said. What he pointed to didn't look like a train station at all. It looked too big, and there were no railroads. There was what looked like a big conveyer belt going into a room that looked more like a depot than a train station.

"Josh, I don't know what that is, but it's not a train station." Twilight said.

"I didn't say we were looking for a train station, I just needed an image for you to get in your minds so we could look for something similar." Josh replied. "Hide around there so I can unhook you both." He said and pointed towards a smaller building besides the bigger one. It was probably a manager's office or site agents.

Twilight and Shining Armour pulled over and Josh hopped out just before the cart came to a stop. He quickly took them off the reins, which didn't take as long as putting them on.

"Ah! That feels sooooo good." Twilight said. "You have no idea what they felt like. Like wires digging through your body."

"I'd love to chat, Twi, but I don't think we can hang around. C'mon, this way." Josh said as he started going around the back.

"How do you know where you're going?" Asked Twilight.

"I don't." Josh replied.

"Well that's reassuring." Shining Armour said sarcastically.

Josh peeked around the corner. There was some large container units under inspection, but there was too many people around for them to get to them.

He turned to Twilight. "Twi, you have to teleport us inside one of those containers." Josh said.

Twilight peeked out at them. "Which one? There must be hundreds."

"Anyone. Just put us in one."

"I think they're a tiny bit out of my reach. And we don't even know what's in them."

"Just get us in anyone. I don't care if it's out of your reach, just try your best."

She sighed. "Are all humans this stubborn?"

"Yes. Now do it." Josh ordered.

Twilight sighed. She closed her eyes and her horn started to glow. All of a sudden, everything turned black.

"Well, here we are, inside one." She said.

"Sweet Celestia, its freezing." Shining Armour said.

"Probably due to whatever they're transporting in this." Josh said. "And try to keep your voice down so no one hears you."

Just then, a purple aurora started illuminating the container. Twilight was producing the light source. "Twi, whilst that is convenient, we might get spotted. Could you dim that a little bit?"

Twilight did so.

"Ugh. I got my hoof caught on something." Shining Armour whispered.

Josh felt something moving on his backside. "Whoops think that's me. Sorry." He stood up and let Shining Armour take his hoof out. Then he sat back down.

He suddenly felt something brush his right hand. "Yikes! What was that?" He said in a loud whisper.

"That was just my tail, Josh." Twilight giggled.

"Oh. Right. Keep that thing still." He replied.

"So what are they transporting that makes this so cold anyway?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, but just try and keep quiet." Josh replied.

They suddenly felt themselves moving. They gathered they had just been put on the conveyer belt. Josh rubbed his hand against the wall. A layer of cold dew rubbed off it as he did.

"If we stay in here any longer, we're gonna catch a cold." Shining Armour said.

"Come on. Let's huddle. Keep us warm."

The 3 of them congregated as close to each other as they could, and then wrapped their arms and forelegs around each other, squeezing tightly.

They eventually stopped. They heard a few muffled voices coming from outside, but they couldn't really pick up on any of the conversation. The only word that got through to them was "energise!"

"Energise? Energise? What does that mean?" Asked Twilight.

Before Josh could answer, there was a flash of white in all their eyes, and then all of a sudden, everything returned to normal. "What just happened?" Asked Shining Armour.

"We're probably a long way from where we were now." Josh said.

"Why?" Twilight asked.

Before they could say anything, the front of the container opened. In the doorway stood a tallish woman with short hair. She wore the same uniform as Josh 'borrowed', but she had 2 golden pips on her collar compared to Josh's 1. Her eyes were wide and her jaw hung ajar.

Her eyes went wide as she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Josh suddenly realised how awkward he looked because he was cuddling 2 ponies.

He smiled sheepishly. "Ah-ha-ha-ha, it's not what it looks like…" He said nervously.

The woman tapped the badge on her chest. "Norman to CO, please send a replacement crewman to Transporter Room 3." She started heading towards the door. "I've got a medical emergency. I'm hallucinating." She said as she left.

Josh's eyes went wide and his jaw just dropped. He started laughing. "I can't believe she just thought we were a figure of her imagination." He said as he started pulling himself out.

"Can you explain any of what she just said?" Twilight asked.

"Uh, I don't see why not, using logic." He said as he stood up. "Norman? I gather that's her last name. CO? That usually stands for Commanding Officer. Transporter Room…? Well, by process of elimination, I gather that's this thing that bought us here."

Twilight and Shining Armour bought themselves to their hooves. "Now what do we do?" Asked Twilight.

"Now we do some more snooping around." Josh lied. He knew exactly what he needed to do, but he also knew that then he may have to reveal the truth if Twilight caught on quickly. Which no doubt she would.

The room they had just entered was very dull looking. If you were only looking at the wall panels and floor that is. They were a mix of black wall panels with a grey carpet. However, there were plenty of multicoloured computer screens around the place. The lights were also very incognito. They blended in well to the surroundings.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Asked Twilight.

"It's kinda hard to explain, but I think I sorta know what I'm looking for." Josh replied.

They stepped out of the door, which was a sliding door that split in half down the middle. The corridor went left or right.

"Right or left?" Josh asked.

"Uhh…left." Shining Armour replied.

"Good choice." Josh said as he started walking that way. "I've had allot of success turning left."  
"Huh?"  
"Nevermind."

They started walking down the corridor, sticking to the wall as much as they could to try and avoid been seen. All of a sudden, they came to a line of windows. Out of the windows, there was nothing but black space. Then there was a planet.

"My ponies, I believe we are on a Space Station." Josh said as he looked out the window. He pointed to the planet. "And that is Earth, where I come from."

"A Space Station? In space?" Twilight said.

"What was your first clue?" Josh replied.

"So where do we go from here?" Asked Shining Armour.

"We take what we need then get the hell out of here." Josh replied.

"Sounds simple enough, but where is what we need? And what is what we need?" Asked Twilight.

"Not sure where it is. But I know what I need. Technology that allows the control of subspace distortions."

"And where would we find that onboard a Space Station?" Asked Twilight.

"Just what I said. I don't know." Josh replied. "C'mon, let's keep moving."

They kept walking along the corridor when suddenly they had a choice to make. They could either carry straight on, or go to the right down another corridor.

"Let's go right." Josh said as he turned. They pinned themselves against the inside wall as they turned just in case someone was coming the other way.

At the end of that corridor, they had to turn either right or left. "Left." Josh said as he pinned himself against the inside wall. Twilight and Shining Armour did the same.

Josh peeked around the corner and noticed someone coming. He didn't even take in any details, just the fact that someone was coming was good enough for him.

He signalled with his hands for twilight and Shining Armour to be quiet. They all stood as still as statues. The only noise was of the tap of the guys feet as he walked pass.

When he was out of hearing range, Josh breathed a sigh of relief. "C'mon, this way."

They moved left and saw a door at the end of the corridor. When they got close enough, it automatically opened. They moving inside the small, circular room it revealed.

"Now what? We're in a dead end." Shining Armour said.

"Docking Bay." Josh spoke. Something beeped and they felt themselves moving slightly.

"What did you do?" Asked Twilight.

"It's a lift. It's taking us through the ship." He replied.

"How did you know that?"

"They have similar things back where I came from. Since they look roughly the same, I gathered they were."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh…" She said and slowly nodded. _'Something's not right here. He seems to know what to do. And he seems to know more than what he's letting on. I find it very suspicious…I better not question him though, now's not the best time for an argument…'_

The lift eventually stopped and the doors opened. They slowly stepped out and looked ahead. Ahead, there was just a clear glass wall which showed into an absolutely enormous room.

"It's gotta be larger than Ponyville in there…" She said.

The room was big and clear. There were not very many things attached to it. And there was 1 huge door at the end of the room. Obviously to let things in and out. Inside the room, there were many objects that Twilight and Shining Armour didn't know what they were. They varied in all shapes and sizes. _'Are those…Starships…?' _Twilight thought. _'This must be a Docking Bay…I guess that kinda makes sense since Josh said Docking Bay…'_

Josh began scanning the room with his eyes, but his attention was quickly drawn by the fact that someone was approaching. "Hide!" He loud whispered. They hid behind a computer console.

Josh took a quick look around. There was plenty of activity here. _'Damn. Too many people…'_

He looked down at the docking bay at all the ships, but each one he saw he looked at with disapproval. _'Why are they all so damn big…?'_

He did another quick scan over with his eyes. Then, right in the corner of the bay, there was a tiny ship. _'Perfect!'_

He tapped Twilight on the shoulder. "Twi, you have to teleport us inside that ship." He whispered and pointed to it.

"That's WAY out of my reach." She said.

"Ugh. Well…if we got some forward momentum going, would you be able to get us there?"

"Uhh…I think so, but it would be a big push. Do we have to?" She replied.

Josh nodded his head. "That ship holds everything we need. If we can get it, all we have to do is get outta here."

"But there's too many people. How are we gonna get there without been noticed?" Asked Shining Armour.

Josh sighed. He looked around for a distraction. Nothing sprung at him at first, but then he saw a ventilation hatch. He suddenly got an idea.

He took his badge off. "I'm gonna throw this down that tube. The noise should give us the distraction, but not for long." He said.

"Right. On your mark." Twilight replied.

Josh nodded. The 3 of them slowly rose up and looked around. Josh then pulled the cover open so he could get a clear shot. He angled his arm to throw it for a distance long enough to reach the other end, but fast enough to cause a large enough noise for it to be a worthy distraction.

With one quick whip of his arm, the badge flew out of his hand and down the tube. It collided with the wall at the other end with a loud bang and then landed on the floor of the tube with a few loud taps.

They peered around the corner. Everyone had their attention drawn to the tube and started moving towards it. "Now's our chance, go." Josh said as he started moving. Shining Armour and Twilight moved with him.

They picked up speed as they ran towards the glass wall. Twilight closed their eyes to concentrate on her teleportation spell. Josh and Shining Armour closed their eyes out of fear they might run into a glass wall!

Josh suddenly felt a ping in his body and then he hit something. But he didn't feel like he ran into anything.

He opened his eyes and saw he fell face first onto a copper coloured floor "Owww."

"Sorry, I was kinda pressured." Twilight replied.

"Not your fault." Josh said as he stood up. "We're in. That's all that matters."

The ship initially looked very dull. There were computer screens, but they were all blank. And the lights were turned off. It really didn't look like much.

"Hold on," Josh went over to one of the consoles and pressed a button underneath it. Suddenly, everything burst into life. The computer screens filled with colours and the lights flickered on. "Systems online." A rather high pitched female voice said.

"Who was that?" Asked Twilight.

"The onboard Computer." Josh replied as he moved onto another console. "You 2 might wanna take a seat somewhere. It's gonna get a little bumpy."

Twilight and Shining Amour looked at each other then took the closest seats they could. "Right, now all we do is wait. When those doors open, we are outta here." He said. "But we've got to keep all the systems offline to avoid being detected." Josh stated.

"But that could take forever. How do you know when someone's gonna leave?" Asked Twilight.

"Why look there. Looks like a ship is departing now." Josh replied and pointed.

A ship was moving slowly through the bay. The large doors had opened and it was moving towards them.

"We're gonna sneak out underneath it. But we need to keep everything offline until the last second so we don't get detected." He explained.

He lined his fingers up with the buttons he needed to press and then looked straight ahead, fixing his eyes on the ship. As soon as the ship was inside the doorway, he was gonna drop the hammer.

"We don't know what any of these controls do." Twilight said, looking at the computer screen she was sitting in front of.

"Don't worry. You shouldn't need to." Josh replied. "If you do, I'll explain them to you." He then suddenly got an idea in his head. "Actually, there is one thing."

"What's that?" Asked Twilight.

"As soon as we start moving, I want you to raise shields." He replied.

"How do I do that?"

"There should be a-"

"Ah, found it." Shining Armour said.

"You must be sitting at the Tactical console, Armour. In that case, you can do it. As I said to Twilight, raise them as soon as we start moving."

"Got it." He replied.

The ship started entering the doorway. "Do we go now?" Asked Twilight.

"Wait for it…" Josh replied.

…

"…Now?"

"Wait…"

…

"…NOW!" He said as he slammed his hands down on the screen. Shining Armour did the same to raise the shields.

The ship lurched forwards, but they didn't feel much of it. "Why didn't we feel anything as soon as we moved?" Twilight asked.

"They've got things to absorb shocks." Josh replied.

They slid out underneath the ship but were immediately met by 3 other ships.

The computer beeped. "What was that?" Asked Twilight.

"We're being hailed. Audio only." Josh replied. He pressed a button to patch it through.

"Attention unidentified life-forms aboard the Runabout. You have taken one of our crew hostage and have stolen one of our ships. Lower your shields immediately or you will be fired upon." A not too pleased male voice said over the comms.

Josh cut the channel. "Uh, I say do what he says." Shining Armour replied.

"Out of the option. That would do more harm than good." Josh replied. "Looks like this is gonna turn into a bumpy ride. Hang on."

He hit a few buttons and the ship started moving. Away from Earth. All of a sudden, all the stars turned into bright streams of lights.

"What just happened?" Asked Twilight.

"We went to Warp speed." Josh replied.

"Warp speed?"

Josh nodded. "Faster than light travel." He said.

"Josh, that's impossible. Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. It breaks all the laws of physics."

"Correction, Dear Twilight. Whilst you are right, you cannot break the laws of physics, you can bend them. We are travelling inside a subspace bubble, where the normal laws of physics don't apply. It's compressing space in front of us and expanding it behind us, effectively creating a wave for us to ride on that can propel us to faster than light speeds."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. _'And he knew all that how? Now I really know that there's something fishy going on here. But I don't think now's the best time to discuss it, considering we're running for our lives…'_

"Don't we have to get back to the wormhole to get back to our universe?" Asked Shining Armour.

"Yeah, I'm working on it, but I needed a distraction to get those ships out of the way." Josh replied.

He looked over at Twilight. "Twilight, you're sitting by the Science panel, therefore you have the Sensors. Use them to see if there's anyone following us."

"Uhh…how do I do that?" She said as she started looking at them.

"There should be – oh let me help." Josh got out of his chair and walked over to the console Twilight was sitting at. He quickly hit some buttons and briefly ran through how to operate them. "Okay. Now what?" Twilight said.

"Take a look. Are there any ships following us?" Josh said as he sat back down where he was.

"Uhh…" Twilight found it difficult to navigate the screen with the her hooves, because they were bigger compared to human fingers, and it didn't respond to inputs she tried to make with her magic.

The screen flashed up with a sensor map. "Erm, there's 1 ship catching us. The computer tells me it's on something called an intercept course. Also, it tells me about something called a Miranda Class, but I don't know what that is."

"Miranda Class? They're not too bad. Nothin' I can't handle." Josh replied.

"Right." Twilight replied. _'How does he know what a Miranda Class is? This just gets weirder and weirder…'_

"What's our time to contact?" Josh asked.

"According to the computer, approximately 25 seconds."

"Right. I've got a plan." Josh replied.

"Uh, Josh. I've been looking at my console, and I've got something called Phasers and Photons. What does that mean?" Shining Armour asked.

"It means you've got the Tactical console. You've got control over our defensive and offensive capabilities. You control our weapons fire."

"Oh. I guess we don't wanna be doing that. We'll only attract attention to ourselves.

"On the contrary, I think they might provide a good distraction. Look," He walked over to the console Shining Armour was working at and hit a few buttons. It displayed a schematic of the ship that was intercepting them. "We've got 2 forward Photon Torpedo tubes and 2 rear. Fire them at this point on the enemy ship." He said and pointed. "That should disrupt their sensors for a few seconds, giving us enough time to get away."

"Are you sure? I don't wanna hurt anyone…"

"Trust me; I think we should be the ones that should be worried about getting hurt at the moment." Josh joked.

"Josh, intercept in 10 seconds!" Twilight said.

"10-4," he replied as he moved back to his console. "I'm gonna slowly bring us out of Warp. Armour, as soon as you get a lock, fire where I showed you."

"Got it."

"Allright. Twilight, count us down to intercept time."

"6. 5. 4. 3. 2-"

"Dropping out of Warp now!" Josh said as he slammed a few buttons on the console in front of him. The ship came to an abrupt halt and the ship that was pursuing them appeared in front of them. "Fire!"

2 orange balls of energy shot out of the front of their small ship and hit the larger one.

"Direct hit. I'm not reading any dama-"

"Sensors can be deceiving, we're outta here!" Josh replied as he hit a few buttons on his console. All of a sudden, the ship made a 180 degree turn and then jumped to Warp.

"Now where we going?" Asked Twilight.

"Back to Earth. We need to get to the wormhole." He replied.

"And we're gonna do that at faster than light speeds? Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you ask me…"

"Oh, we're not gonna go through it at Warp speeds, we're gonna slow when were only meters away from it. However, we should be able to confuse their Sensors for a few minutes if we go faster. We'll give the impression we crashed.

"Oh – Oh! I get it!" Shining Armour butted in. "The ol' dummy."

"Exactly." Josh replied.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "You're crazy…"

"Probably. But hey, you don't win races by playin' it safe." Josh replied. "We're approaching Earth now. As expected, a few more ships have mobilized. We'll be passing within inches of their hulls, but we should make it."

"And if we collide with one of them?" Asked Twilight.

Josh shrugged. "Nice knowing ya." He replied.

"Oh, oka—wait what!?"

Josh wasn't really listening anymore. He was concentrating on what he need to do.

"Okay, I'm gonna start slowly disengaging the Warp Drive as we near the wormhole." He stated. "Gonna start dropping power in 3. 2. 1. Mark."

He slowly started moving a slider down. The ship started shaking erratically. "Subspace turbulence, don't worry about a thing." Josh said. "We're down to Warp 4. Warp 3. Warp 2." There was suddenly a large whooshing sound that came from either side of the ship. It threw it around a bit. "That'll be those other ships. Slight course deviation, attempting to compensate."

He hit a few buttons on the console and then slid one all the way down. "We are now operating at Impulse power." He said. "There's the wormhole." He said and pointed out the window.

"Josh, we're gonna crash! Slow down! Pull up!" Twilight called.

Josh hit a few buttons and the ship pitched upwards a tad. He took the engines completely offline and hit the reverse thrusters. They all got flung forwards in their seats as it slowed down. They then quickly got sucked into the wormhole and arrived on the other side.

Rainbow Dash was peacefully napping on the grass in Josh's back garden. Well, trying too anyway. She couldn't get comfortable on the ground, so she just closed her eyes, relaxed, and pretended she was asleep. When all of a sudden, she jumped on all 4 hooves when she heard a whooshing sound. She was immediately on red alert.

All of a sudden, a large thing came flying out of the wormhole. Rainbow Dash yelped and flew back as quick as she could. She was trying to hover in midair, but she was shaking out of fear. A giant thing flew out of the wormhole and nearly landed on her. _'I'm glad I wasn't actually sleeping now. It would take me forever to clean that mess off the cloud…'_

Josh sat back in the chair, breathing heavily. His hands all sweaty with anticipation. He hit a few keys to land the thing on the ground. Everyone was speechless, but he was speechless for other reasons. _'I was just in another fantasy universe. There must be a fantasy universe for every single possible thing ever imagined. Jesus Christ, there must be an almost infinite number of them. I don't think I'd be able to see them all in my lifetime…'_

"Starfire." Shining Armour suddenly said softly to break the silence.

Josh spun around on his chair. "Pardon?"

"Starfire. That's what it says on this plaque."

Josh looked at where he was looking at. "Oh yeah. They put those plaques on every ship. That means this ship was called the USS Starfire." He read the writing underneath it. "A Yellowstone Class Runabout."

"How do you know that?" Asked Shining Armour.

"It says underneath it." Josh said with a chuckled.

He looked over at Twilight. "Well Twilight, looks like we've got a whole lot more experiments to be doing now we've got this fancy piece of kit." He said, patting the top of the console with his hand.

Twilight was just staring at him with a really pissed off look on her face. She was staring at Josh like he wanted to kill him.

She stood from her chair. Josh went to get up, but Twilight forced him back down with her magic. "Okay, start talking! Now!" She shouted.

"Twilight, what's going-"

"No! Don't you what's going on me!" She retorted. "I should be asking you what's going on! Somehow, you come to our world, and you know next to nothing about it. Then, we jump into some strange world, with Starships and space flight, and suddenly you know everything! It doesn't make sense!"

"Twilight, I can expla-"

"No! Enough explaining from you!" She had reached the point of screaming. She held Josh down by the shoulders with her forehooves. "I don't want any more of your explainations! I don't want any more of your lies! You know much more than your letting on don't you!? Well let it out! I want to know the truth! What's really going on here!? Who are you!? What are you doing here!?"

* * *

_**Aaaaaaaannd that's another cliffhanger folks. The 3**__**rd**__** one in a row I believe. I should really stop doing this, 'cause I know some people don't like it. :)**_

_**I would normally put copyrights here for the things I just introduced, but that would spoil the cliffhanger, so I'll put it at the end of the next chapter. :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_


	6. The Truth, The Ups, and the Downs

_**Well, welcome to the next chapter Everypony! I just want to make some things clear. NO this will NOT be turning into a crossover fanfic. Just in case anypony got any ideas from the previous chapter. I see in the reviews that some of you already know what universe I went into. Well done, you deserve a cookie! Or a muffin, whichever you prefer! :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :D**_

* * *

**Josh's POV**

I sighed. There was no way I could keep it from them anymore. I better come clean. "Allright. You want to know the truth?" I gently placed my hands under her forelegs and slowly pushed her off me. "Come inside. I'll tell you everything." I said softly.

I got out of the chair and walked around to the back of the Starfire. I pressed a button on the wall and a door opened up. I stepped out of it and onto the grass of my back garden. "Hey Josh!" I heard Rainbow Dash call as she ran up to me. "What the hay just happened? I was napping and then all of a sudden that giant thing comes through! What is it?"

"It's a Starship, Skittles. I'll explain it all later. In the meantime, are you free this evening? I was wondering if you'd like to come back and watch some racing movies over dinner." I replied.

"Racing movies? You mean like NASCAR movies?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Just racing in general. I've got plenty."

"Uhh…" She shrugged. "I'm not doing anything. Guess I could."

"Great. I'm free all the time. Drop in whenever." I replied.

We walked inside the living room. Twilight still didn't look amused. Shining Armour still looked a bit confused after his sister's freak-out. "Please, take a seat." I said as I sat in an armchair in the corner of the room. The 3 of them spaced themselves out on the couch at the back of the room.

"Now where do you want me to start on a scale of 1 to 10?" I asked Twilight.

"0. Tell me everything. Right from the beginning." She replied. Well, at least she's calmed down a bit now.

"Okay." I pointed to the TV. "This is called a Television. It displays video and images. It's used for entertainment, as we can watch things like movies, shows and other things. There's all kinds of shows. Entertainment. Factual documentaries. Comedy. Sci-fi. Drama. Sports. All kinds of stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it." Twilight interrupted. Her eyes suddenly flashed as an idea hit her. "So what are you getting at?"

"Let me finish." I replied. "But TV shows are just made up. Fiction. Not real."

"So you're saying that we're living in some sort of made up, fictional fantasy universe?" Twilight replied.

"Well…yeah." I replied. "There's a TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. That's what this entire universe is based off of."

"So we're not real?" Asked Twilight.

"Oh no, this is very real, what's happening right now is very much real." I replied. "It's just the laws of the space/time continuum are VERY hard to understand. This is like a completely separate universe to the one I come from. That's putting it simply."

"I see…"

"You are very good." Shining Armour butted in.

"Excuse me?"

"You had us all deceived for about 4 days without a slipup. That's just impressive."

"Heh. I just know how to watch my mouth." I replied. "It's just a few things I had to say back there kinda revealed it."

"Speaking of 'back there'," Twilight came in, "how did you know what you were doing back there? Let me guess. Another fantasy universe based off one of your human TV shows?"

"Yes." I replied. "It's a sci-fi show called Star Trek. I'm a huge fan of it. I knew what I was doing as soon as I saw this uniform." I said as I rubbed my shirt.

"…Hmm…I've read my fair share of science fiction novels, but that was completely beyond my imagination…" She got up. "I need to go. C'mon, Rainbow Dash." She said as she started walking towards the door.

"What?" Rainbow Dash stood up. "But I'm not-"

"Now!" Twilight interrupted.

Rainbow Dash grunted as she followed Twilight.

"I should go too." Shining Armour added as he got up. "I'm probably gonna be asked to fill out a report on this."

"Right. But could you do me a favour? Please do your best to keep this quiet until I know what's gonna happen." I asked.

He looked at me and smiled. "I don't think I'm at liberty to discuss it." He said with a wink.

I smiled. "Thanks." I replied.

He nodded and headed for the door. I heard all of them exit.

I slumped back in the chair and rubbed my hands across my face. "Now what do I do…?"

**3****rd**** person POV**

Twilight had gathered up all her friends for a meeting in the library where she lived. "About half an hour ago, me and Rainbow Dash discovered something about Josh. He's been lying to us the whole time. He knows who we are and where we are."

"My goodness, how's that?" Asked Rarity.

"Glad you asked." Twilight replied. "Apparently we're not even real. We're from a fantasy universe made up by his people. A type of entertainment show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic."

"So what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It's not like he's doing any harm. We're real now aren't we? The only reason he didn't explain to us is because of how complicated it was. He even said that himself."

"But it's the fact he lied to us. Why would he be deceiving us just 'cause he could? There's got to be a reason."

"There is a reason." Rainbow Dash replied. "It was too complicated and he couldn't explain it. I'm sure he would've told us once he figured it out."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't change the fact that we're still from a work of fiction!" Twilight replied, stomping her hoof on the floor. "Does that mean our lives are being dictated by the writers of us?"

"Uh, no, because he said we were in a different universe or something?" Rainbow Dash replied. "If that makes sense?"

"Sense?" Twilight said with a chuckle. "None of this makes sense."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Look, nothing bad's happening, so everything will be allright."

"As unsure as it makes me feel, I agree with Rainbow Dash. Josh has done nothing to provoke us, and we've done nothing to provoke him." Rarity added.

"Ah agree wif Rainbow. He ain't done nothin' bad." Applejack Added.

"But what about his influence?" Asked Twilight. "The people from his world, I mean the one he came from, they killed themselves fighting over a fuel source. What if his war-like influence affects the ponies here? Or even worse, Princess Celestia?"

"Oh Twilight, he's only 1 person. I really don't believe he's stupid enough to try and take on all of Equestria by himself." Rarity replied. "Perhaps there was another reason for his deception? Embarrassment? Fear? Trust?"

"Trust sounds most logical." Twilight replied. "Since where he comes from it sounds like trust is a really hard thing to come by."

"But what would there be for us to trust him about anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It doesn't matter if he told us 4 days ago; it still wouldn't change the fact."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so are you suggesting there's another reason?"

"Well…uh…no. I mean yes! I mean I don't know."

"Yeah, I thought – wait. Rainbow Dash, you might be onto something here. Remember what he said before? 'If you remove the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'? How about we try that here?"

"…That could work…" Fluttershy said, but so quietly that no one heard her.

"Allright, let's start filtering." Twilight said. "We know it can't be out of trust, because trust was not a factor. How about fear?"

"Fear?"

"The fear of us finding out."

"Well, I was only raising a suggestion..." Rarity responded. "But fear of what?"

"The fear of…uhh...hmm…" Twilight really had no idea.

"What about that other one? Embarrassment? Perhaps the 2 are connected?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"But we come to the same problem. Embarrassed of what?"Twilight replied. "…Well, the only logical explanation we can come to is that there is even more of what he's not telling. But how do we get it out of him?"

"Who cares!? The point is, he's not a bad pony - uh, person." Rainbow Dash replied. She raised her right foreleg. "I'm voting no threat. Who's with me?"

All the ponies looked around at each other. "No threat." Rarity said as she raised her hoof.

"No threat." Applejack agreed as she raised her hoof.

"But there is still loads more we don't know about him! How can we make a judgement when we don't know everything!?" Twilight said.

"Umm…if I can say something. Oh. That is if you haven't already made up your minds…" Fluttershy's little voice came in. "I agree with Twilight. Remember at the wedding when she was suspicious about Princess Cadence's strange acting and we all ignored her? What if that's happening here…?"

"He's from a completely different universe! That's impossible!" Rainbow Dash replied. Her loud voice made Fluttershy cower and hide her face under her forehooves.

"I-i-it was just a sug-g-gestion…" She replied in a crackly voice.

"Twilight dear, if you want my opinion, I really do think that you are over reacting." Rarity said. "There is honestly nothing to worry about. Josh clearly has no violent intentions."

Twilight sighed. "Yeah…maybe your right…I'm just a bit on edge after what I've just heard and seen."

"Anypony would." Rarity replied.

"HEY I GOT IT!" Pinkie Pie blurted out.

"What is it Pinkie Pie?" Asked Twilight.

"Why Josh lied to us. I know why." She replied. "It's quite funny really. He obviously kept it from us to keep it hidden from his evil twin, Hsoj!"

"Hsoj? Pinkie, that's just Josh backwards, and I don't think-"

"I know right!? That's what makes it so evil! It's an anagram! Hsoj is obviously a shapshifter! Meaning he can take control of Josh's body. He wants to deceive us and take over all of Equestria! That's why Josh didn't tell us, so he could try and stop Hsoj before he did any damage!"

Everypony looked at each other with confused looks. "Uhh…thanks, Pinkie Pie…I uh…I'll take that into consideration…" Twilight replied.

"No need to thank me." Pinkie Pie replied with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure Rainbow Dash will find out more when she goes to see him tonight." Twilight said.

"I'm not gonna try and get dirt on him, Twilight, if that's what you mean." Rainbow Dash replied.

"She's going to see him tonight?" Asked Rarity.

"Oh yeah, Josh asked her out." Twilight replied.

"What!? He did not ask me out!" Rainbow Dash replied.

Twilight giggled. "He asked you to dinner and a movie. Sounds like a date if you ask me." Twilight replied.

"It's not a date!" She replied. "We just…have similar tastes…we thought it'd be awesome to hang out, that's all."

"Hate t' break it t' ya Sugarcube, but it soun's like he got other plans." Applejack said.

"Hmm. Nah. I don't think he's like that." Twilight replied. "But c'mon Rainbow Dash, he has almost the same interests as you. You can't say you don't find that attractive."

Rainbow Dash blushed slightly. "I guess it's kinda cool…but even if he were a pony, he wouldn't be my type."

"What makes you say that, Dear?" Asked Rarity.

"He's too smart. He doesn't know when to switch off."

"Well Ah reckon ya gonna want him switched on tonight ennyway, eh?" Applejack said, nudging her in the side.

"Oh shut up!" Rainbow Dash replied. "We're just friends, okay? Besides, I doubt he has that kind of interest in ponies…"

"You never know. Maybe that's what he's been trying to hide." Twilight joked.

"In that case, I'll stay the hay away from him." Rainbow Dash joked with a laugh at the end. The 6 of them started coming up with jokes.

_**MEANWHILE IN CANTERLOT**_

Shining Armour had just made it back to Canterlot and was just heading to his office to fill out a report. _'Damn, I'm late again. Cadence will be so mad…'_

He walked through the castle and up to his office. This was where all the boring stuff happened, but it needed to be done.

He opened his door and saw a figure sitting in his chair at his desk. The figure looked up. "So how was your little experiments?" The figure asked.

Shining Armour sighed. "Zhengyi, first of all, out of the chair. Secondly, whaddya want?"

"Oh come now, is that a way to greet your second-in-command?" He said as he rose from the chair and took a few steps away from it.

Shining Armour walked towards the chair and sat down. "Whaddya want? If you came to plea to be reinstated, the answer is no."

"Oh no, I didn't come about that." Zhengyi replied. "I wanted to talk to you about the human."

"Whatever you say, I don't want you badmouthing him. He saved my life today. Admittedly, he put our lives at risk himself, but he still saved 'em."

"Sounds like you had a fun day." He replied. "But that's the reason I'm here. I'm under the impression there's something he's not letting on. With your permission, I'd like to request an investigation."

"An investigation? Of what? And if you say you have a hunch one more time, I'll have you demoted."

Zhengyi smiled. "Please. Tell me about what happened today."

Shining Armour sighed. "Well, it was pretty risky, but we recovered something that he can now use to operate something in his back garden. But to be honest, I think my sister is just as suspicious about what happened today…"

"What's that?"

Shining Armour shook his head. "I'm not at liberty to discuss it." _'A promise is a promise...'_

"Hmm. Very well, I won't question you on it, but doesn't it give you all the more reason to let me investigate."

Shining Armour thought for a moment. _'This could be the perfect opportunity for me to pick up a new Commander if he fails here…' _He suddenly snatched an idea.

He looked at Zhengyi. "Tell you what. I'm not gonna order an official investigation. But I'm not gonna stop you either. I can supply you with what you need; the rest is as your discretion. HOWEVER, if something goes wrong, I'm not gonna be there to back you up. Once you got what you need, you are 100 percent on your own."

Zhengyi smiled. "Allright, I've already started preparing an investigation anyway. One of my sources in Ponyville reported that he's going to the local school for the day to talk to the kids. That should keep him occupied for me to snoop around his house and pick up all the evidence I need."

"Cool. But what are the grounds of your accusation?" Shining Armour asked.

Zhengyi liked the fact that his Captain was taking interest in his little game. "I intend to prove that his race is violent and war-like, meaning he is a bad influence on Equestria and must leave immediately."

Shining Armour nodded. "Sounds reasonable enough. But weren't we any different? Think back to centuries maybe even millenniums ago. We were very barbaric and war-like ponies."

"That was millenniums ago though. This human appears to be centuries ahead of us in the world of technology."

"I see. You do have a point there. Okay, how many ponies do you need?" Shining Armour asked as he pulled a piece of paper out of a holster on his desk with his magic. It appeared to already have been mostly filled out, Shining Armour just needed to fill in the blanks.

"Up to 4 ponies should be fine. At least 1 of them a Pegasus. The rest of them preferably Unicorns, but I'm not fussed."

"Mmhmm." Shining Armour replied as he picked up a quill with his magic. He dipped it in ink and then started filling out the piece of paper. He quickly glanced back and forth between the paper and a schedule he had pinned up on the wall. "Luckily enough, I have got 4 ponies that are free tomorrow. But whether you can convince them to work on their days off is up to you. Good luck on that. This particular Pegasus is known for his stubbornness."

"Don't we usually have loads of ponies off duty at this time?"

"I've been ordered to increase internal security for the Princess's birthday. We don't want another incident like the one at my wedding." Shining Armour replied.

"An understandable precaution." Zhengyi replied.

Shining Armour finished writing and handed the note to Zhengyi with his magic. "There ya go. The rest is up to you. Good luck convincing them to come out on their days off though."

Zhengyi caught the piece of paper with his magic and tucked it into an inside pocket in his armour. "I'm sure I'll figure something out." He said with a smile.

He turned around and headed for the door. Once he was out, he shut the door with his magic.

"And that's goodbye to Zhengyi." Shining Armour said to himself with a smile. _'Now I probably really should get this report done. Otherwise I won't be home 'till midnight…'_

Shining Armour picked up a blank piece of paper and re-inked his quill to start writing…

_**LATER THAT EVENING…**_

Josh was contemplating whether or not Rainbow Dash was still coming after the incident earlier. He was hoping that he hadn't affected his relationship with any of the ponies. Or if it changed Celestia's opinion of him.

He had changed into some different clothes and had just finished washing the uniform he had picked up. In his heart, he was so happy that he got an authentic Starfleet uniform. Although it was the wrong colour for him, it was still an authentic bit of kit.

He hung it up to dry. The thought of the possibilities of what could happen to him lingered in his mind. Usually he'd be able to push these to the back of his mind and was able to concentrate on the task at hand. However, he wasn't doing any tasks he needed to particularly concentrate on, so he found pushing it away difficult.

That suddenly changed as he heard a knock at the door. _'Ah. That must be Rainbow Dash.'_ He walked over to the door and opened it. Rainbow Dash stood in the doorway. "Hey, Josh." Rainbow Dash said.

"Hey, Dash, c'mon in." He replied with a smile as he stepped out of her way to let her enter. Rainbow Dash stepped through the door and Josh closed it behind her.

"So…what did Twilight say about me?"

"She's not really convinced, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. She isn't one to hold a grudge. I think she's just overreacting." Rainbow Dash replied.

"That's good. But I have a feeling this is far from over." Josh said.

"You don't usually worry this much, calm down." Rainbow Dash replied.

"I am calm. I just like to consider all of the possibilities, regardless of their probability." Josh replied.

"Yeah, yeah, trust you…" Rainbow Dash replied.

They went through to the living room. "Well, I found a few movies you might enjoy." He had got them out earlier so he didn't have to faff around later.

"Okay, hit me." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh picked one of the rectangular cases and showed it to Rainbow Dash. "This one is called Days Of Thunder. It's really good when it comes to accuracy. It's set in 19 90, which is 22 years before the time I came from."

"Okay, what else you got?"

He picked up another one and presented it to her. "This one's called Talladega Nights: The Ballard Of Ricky Bobby. Its accuracy is pretty bad, but God, it is hilarious."

"Uh, what's that other one I see back there? It's got a different car on the cover." She asked.

Josh looked back and picked up another one of the rectangular boxes. "It's called Driven. It's based around a different style of racing that was back then called Champ Cars. But it's more about the drama than the racing."

"Oh right. Yawn."

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly." Josh replied as he put the DVD down.

He chuckled. "I'm afraid that's probably all I've got that'll keep you entertained. Well, unless you want to spend hours trawling through my DVD collection. I would say Star Trek, but something tells me you wouldn't be interested."

"Star Trek? Oh, you mean that sci-fi show universe thing that you, Twilight and her brother went into and bought that back?" Rainbow Dash asked as she pointed to the ship Josh had sitting in his back garden.

"Yep, that's the one. It's probably too nerdy for you though, isn't it?"

"Uh…yeah. But speaking of which, can I ask you a question about that?"

"Fire away." Josh replied.

"Did you see yourself in that universe?"

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Wouldn't it be possible for a time paradox to cause you to meet yourself? Something like that happened in the 7th book of the Daring Do saga. I was wondering if that was true or not."

"Uhh…no…" What she said had just got ideas whirling in Josh's brain. "Although I wonder who Josh Valentine was back in that universe… C'mon Dash, let's go find out." He said as he headed for the back door.

"Uh, okay." Rainbow Dash replied as she followed him.

He quickly made his way outside and into the Runabout. Rainbow Dash right behind him. "Computer, bring up records for Josh Valentine." He said.

A beep came from the ship in acknowledgement and a screen started coming up with a list that didn't seem to end. "That's a lot of Josh Valentine's. Let's try narrowing it down. Filter date of birth to January 6th 19 96."

The computer beeped in acknowledgement and then only 1 file appeared on the screen. "That'll be me." Josh tapped it on the touchscreen and it appeared. It showed a picture of him next to general information. Josh skipped past all that stuff and hit the history button.

What he read off the screen made him smile more and more. "Josh Valentine was one of the most successful NASCAR Cup Series drivers in history. Not only was he the first ever NASCAR champion from England, but he easily made the record books, bringing an incredible 18 championships to his name in his 60 years of racing." He read.

"You're a Champion!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "And there you were worrying about your previous life! Go on, read on! I wanna know more about this! How did you start?"

Josh skimmed through the text and picked up from where he thought was appropriate. "Josh Valentine's career started on iRacing, which at the time was the top motorsports simulator."

"iRacing? Wasn't that the thing you raced me on?"

"The very same." Josh replied. "Josh met up with another aspiring-to-be NASCAR driver on the simulator who went by the name of Zack Lando. The 26 year old had the money and the sponsors, and wanted to start a NASCAR operation, but he needed a teammate. After spending a few months competing against Josh Valentine in iRacing's top series, he saw real potential in the young 15 year old from England. The 2 of them were in touch for just over a month talking about their plans to make it to the big league. However, Josh had one problem. His parents wouldn't allow it. After failing to convince them otherwise, he snuck out and jumped on the first flight over to America, where he was arranged to compete in the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series, driving the number 53 for the recently formed Lando-Valentine Motorsports."

"Wow Josh, I didn't know you were such a rebel!" Rainbow Dash patted him on the back.

He smirked. "I have done things in my past that I regret…anyway, let's read on, shall we?" He cleared his throat and picked up where he left off. "In his inaugural season, he came runner up. Though he didn't win, he had gained more than enough interest and respect than he needed. The sponsorship offers kept coming, and Lando-Valentine Motorsports made their debut in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series." He smiled. At least more than he was already smiling anyway.

"And the rest is history." Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

"I should think so." Josh replied.

"But it said you did 60 years of racing. What happened at the end of the 60 years?"

"Let's find out." Josh replied. He skipped through the text to the end of the history section. It ended with a new title. Death.

Josh's smile dropped a bit. "On lap 110 at the 2073 race at Indianapolis Motor speedway, Valentine hit the wall at over 210 miles per hour. The cause of his death was presumed to be a combination of blood loss and head trauma. His team immediately pointed the finger at their long time rivals, Joe Gibbs Racing, suspecting them of sabotaging the cars. On closer analysis of Josh's wreckage, it was found to be a truck arm failure that caused the car to lose control, specifically the mount."

"What's the truck arm?"

"The truck arm does many things, but in particular, it pretty much holds the entire back end of the car together. It said that it was specifically the mount they suspected of failure, so I gathered that his te – my team suspected our rivals of sabotaging them. Probably cut them a bit with an angle grinder when we weren't looking."

"That's not very sporting!" Rainbow Dash complained.

Josh shrugged. "Racing is not only a sport, it's a business. Competition is high. So naturally, they want to prove that they were better than their competitors. On track or otherwise."

"But did they ever rat them out?"

"Why don't we read on and find out?" Josh cleared his throat. "An investigation was carried out and a trial was held, but due to lack of evidence linking Joe Gibbs Racing to the accident, the trial didn't last very long. Joe Gibbs Racing were declared not guilty and everything moved on.

Later that week at the next race at Pocono, Josh's teammate, car owner, and team owner, Zack Lando, was killed in an engine explosion whilst preparing for a practice session. The explosion also took his crew chief and some of the mechanics and pit crew along with it. Luckily the teams residing next to Lando-Valentine Motorsports were not injured or damaged in any way. Suspicions once again came across Joe Gibbs Racing, and an investigation was launched. But any evidence there might have been died along with the driver in the explosion. Since no conclusive evidence was found, Joe Gibbs Racing were once again let off."

"That's terrible. How can they let 'em get away with something like that!?"

"We don't even know if it was Joe Gibbs Racing's fault. For all we know, it might've just been a false accusation, because of the heat of rivalry." Josh replied.

"But your team still lived on, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Josh looked back at the text. "But it would seem that Valentine had been betrayed by the man he thought was his best friend and teammate for all these years. The money accumulated by the team was never stored into a separate account. It was all stored under Zack Lando's private bank account, making all the money his possession. Since he did not have a will, the estate was distributed evenly among those who were legally obliged to it. Unfortunately, none of the money made it back to the team. With no money and sponsors pulling out, the team had no choice but to close up shop."

Josh sighed. "And that's the end of my legacy."

"That really sucks." Rainbow Dash replied. "The system you use for dividing up the money really sucks. Why didn't it go straight to the team?"

"If that's what he wanted to happen, that would have been needed to be stated in the will. But he didn't have one. From the sounds of it, neither of us did. Meaning it all goes to whoever is legally obliged to it. Which would be parents, relatives, family members, cousins, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents, you get the idea."

"Wasn't there anything you could've done?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Josh shrugged. "What can I do? I'm dead. And even if I was still alive, that would mean that this whole thing never would've happened."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "…Well, I'm sure you left an impression."

"Oh no doubt about that." Josh replied. He chuckled. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I promised you dinner and a movie, and here we are trawling through the archives on a starship."

"That's okay, I actually enjoyed it." Rainbow Dash replied with a smile. "Almost as much as you did, Champ."

"Hehe. I'm not the champ. The champ is dead. I'm just another Josh Valentine."

"Oh, your way more than Josh Valentine to me, Mr. 18-Time-Champion. Even though I don't know much about NASCAR, I know enough to know 18 championships is a lot."

"Heh. Thanks, Skittles. You flatter me." Josh replied as he headed for the door.

They headed back into the house and into the kitchen. "You look around and find something you like, I'll setup the movie. You wanna watch Days of Thunder, 10-4?"

"Uh, yeah, that's the one." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh nodded with a smile and headed into the living room. He took the DVD out of the box and put it inside the Blu-Ray player. Although it wasn't Blu-Ray, Josh still preferred to use the Blu-Ray player, because it upscaled it somewhat. Barely noticeable, but Josh is very fussy when it comes to technology.

He let it load up and set the remote down on his side of the couch. He then pulled a few small coffee tables over to the couch for them to rest stuff on whilst they were watching.

He walked off into the kitchen to find that Rainbow Dash had already pulled some stuff out. "I see you've already picked some stuff out." He said with a chuckle as he walked towards the worktop to see what she'd pulled out.

"Yeah. I don't want anything that'll take too long though. And I don't wanna eat anything too strange."

'_She probably found some foods that she didn't understand.'_ "Of course. And don't worry about cooking times. The microwave should be able to do it all in an instant. And if not, then I'll flame-grill 'em with the Phasers on the Starfire." He joked.

"Phasers?"

"Uh, nevermind. Anyway, you go make yourself comfortable, and I'll get this all cooking."

She pulled her head out of the fridge and looked at Josh. "No, I wanna help you. I don't know much about cooking, but I wanna help."

Josh shrugged. "If you say so." He replied. "I've got an idea. Do you like soup?"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Depends. What kind of soup?"

Josh shrugged. "Whatever you want will go in it." He replied.

"Okay. How you gonna do that?"

"With this," Josh reached down into the cabinet beneath him and pulled out a blender. "There should be a container in the fridge labeled vegetable stock. Can you see it? I think it's somewhere near the top shelf."

"Uhh…oh yeah, I see." Rainbow Dash used her wings to hover slightly so she could reach it. She pulled it out with 2 hooves and handed it to Josh. "Doesn't this all seem a little much? It's just you and me."

"Yeah, but I have quite an appetite." Josh replied with a wink. "Now, what should we put in it?" Josh examined some of the foods Rainbow Dash pulled out. Most were fruits and vegetables. "Let's see…we've got a green pepper," Josh dropped it in the blender.

"I'm no cooking expert either, but don't you have to, like, take all the stuff out of them first?"

"Uhh…yeah, you're probably right." Josh pulled it out and took the stalk off, then threw it back in. "That'll do it."

"There's stuff inside it as well, isn't there?"

Josh chuckled. "I don't think that'll really matter when it's crushed into oblivion." He replied. "But it could use a hint of…" He grabbed everything Rainbow Dash had pulled out and threw it in. "Those. And now it's ready." He grabbed the vegetable stock and poured it into the blender, filling it right up to the brim.

He put the lid on then plugged it into a plug socket on the wall. "Now, this might make a little bit of a noise." He said.

"I don't mind." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh pressed the go button and the blender snarled into life. It made Rainbow Dash jump a little bit. Josh chuckled. "GIVE IT A MINUTE!" He shouted over the sound of the blender.

He went into another cabinet and pulled out a saucepan. He placed it on the stove and turned it up to maximum temperature. He then rested against the edge of the worktop and waited for the blending to finish.

He watched the clock to count a few minutes. Once they were up, he turned the blender off and poured its contents into the saucepan. It made a big sizzling sound as it hit the base of the saucepan. Mainly because Josh had had it going for a while to heat up.

"It's a little…uhh…green…" Rainbow Dash commented.

"That's because of all the green stuff we put in it." Josh replied. "It should taste fine though. I've done this a million times before, and they always turn out perfectly?"

"Wait. Is that your idea of dinner? Just blend whatever you can find?"

Josh shrugged. "That's my idea for a soup, yes. I can do other things, but I thought it might be nice. Why? Do you have an objection?"

"Oh no, I was just wondering…" Rainbow Dash replied.

He waited for it to start bubbling. When it did, he left it for 30 seconds and then got 2 large, tall glass cups out of the cabinet. "No bowls?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"I had got bowls if you want, but I thought a cup would be easier. Only 1 hand. Or hoof, as it were."

"Oh yeah, sure. I never thought of that."

"Well then, that's Josh Valentine's words of wisdom for you today." He replied with a smile. Rainbow Dash chuckled in response.

He poured out 2 cups and then handed 1 to Rainbow Dash. He then started walking out of the kitchen and towards the living room. Rainbow Dash followed him.

He sat down on his side of the couch, which was the right hand side, and Rainbow Dash sat next to him on the left. He picked up the remote in his other hand and hit the play button. The DVD had already come to the main menu, so all he had to do was press play.

He set the controller to one side and rested his head back. Rainbow Dash was asking him questions about what was going on. Most of the time, it was just Hollywood's fault for misjudging the accuracy of the movie, and it was sort of difficult to explain to Rainbow Dash, because she didn't understand. However, Josh explained to her how she could improve her techniques when an accurate part came up.

Not long into the movie, the pair of them had just finished their soups. "Do you want some more?" Josh asked as he picked up her glass.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"Okay. I was gonna do some basic movie snacks for dessert. Like popcorn and stuff. Want some?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." She replied, not really paying attention. She was getting too engulfed in the movie.

"10-4." Josh replied softly as to not interrupt her viewing.

He walked into the kitchen and got an instant bag of popcorn out. He put it in the microwave and set it off. He didn't set a specific time, he never did, he just let it run until he knew it was ready. He then snuck off into the dining room. In the dining room, there was a cabinet in the corner of the room.

Josh pulled the doors opened and it revealed a stash of alcohol. There was loads of stuff in there. All of it was his parents, but since they were gone, he didn't care. He got a bottle of Jack Daniels Whisky and 2 large shot glasses. He then slowly crept back into the living room and placed them down by the side of the couch, out of Rainbow Dash's view. She was too busy watching the car race on TV to notice him.

Josh went back and checked the popcorn. It was ready. He pulled it out, burning himself a little in the process, but not too badly, and poured all the popcorn into a big bowl.

He took the bowl through and back into the living room. "All done." He said as he sat down on the couch and placed the bowl in-between them. Rainbow Dash shimmied herself closer to Josh and reached out and took some popcorn in her hoof. Josh did the same.

The movie had just got to the point where Cole and his team had got fired. **(A/N: Nevermind. It's just a scene that happens in the movie. You don't need to know about it. If you do and you've seen the movie before, congrats. Get yourself a cookie.)**

"Oh my gosh! He's done, isn't he!? What happens next!?"

Josh chuckled. "Why don't you watch on and find out?" He suggested.

Rainbow Dash obviously didn't hear him, as she didn't reply. Her eyes were just glued to the screen.

Josh smiled. He inhaled deeply and slumped back into the corner of the couch, exhaling deeply as he did.

Rainbow Dash noticed that and half smiled. She inhaled deeply and stretched her forelegs high into the air. She then exhaled deeply as she bought herself back down. However, she bought herself back down to rest on her right side. Her head landed on Josh's lap. She didn't intend for herself to go that far, but for some reason, she liked it, so she didn't try and correct it. Josh wasn't complaining, so she just stuck with it.

Josh smiled. He put his left hand on her shoulder. He then slowly made his way up her neck and ran his fingers into her mane. He started scratching her behind the head. Rainbow Dash wasn't used to treatment like this without being asked. She usually got asked for massages and whatnot when she went to the spa with Rarity. 99 percent of the time it was against her will. But Josh didn't ask to do it, and neither did she, so she saw no reason why not.

The film was coming close to the ending, where Cole was about to replace Rowdy to drive the Daytona 500 **(see authors note above.)**

"It's about to reach the climax, we should probably get some more popcorn for it." Josh said.

"Okay, but be quick! Otherwise your gonna miss it!" Rainbow Dash replied as she bought herself up.

"10-4, 10-4." Josh replied as he stood up and went into the kitchen.

He got another bag of microwave popcorn and shoved it in the microwave. He sighed as he had a moment to think.

'_Was that intentional of Rainbow Dash to do that back then? Is she…coming onto me? If she is, what should I say? Can I really do this? I mean a relationship with a pony? Would it work? No. Calm down, Josh. You're overreacting. Remember, calm, cool, and collective, like always. Like in the cockpit of your race car. C'mon, Josh, you can do this. The turn is no more difficult, it's just the rain is making it a little slippery.'_

"Josh! Josh! C'mon! You're missing it!" Rainbow Dash called.

'_You're losing grip, Slick. Whaddya do? Ya don't wanna spin out. You could try backing out of it, but then you might lose the lead. You could go in tradin' paint, but you might get taken out of the race altogether. Think, think. What would Earnhardt do…?' _He put his hand down his shirt and felt his Dale Earnhardt necklace. He clenched it._ 'Guess we're gonna trade some paint!'_

Josh ran back to the living room and hopped back onto the couch. Rainbow Dash immediately closed the gap between the 2 of them to explain what was happening, even though Josh had seen the movie a million times before.

Throughout the race, Rainbow Dash was right on the edge of the couch. Josh thought about trying to explain to her that it was only a movie, but he decided not to ruin her fun.

When Cole crossed the line to take the checkered flag, she cheered and threw her forelegs up in the air. She then hugged Josh, squeezing him tight. "He did it!" She said.

Josh hugged her back. "He sure did." He replied. _'I hope she knows this is only a movie and didn't actually happen…'_

They watched the ending and when the credits started rolling, Josh grabbed the remote and flicked it off. "So, did you enjoy that?" He asked as he reached down the side of the couch.

"Hay yeah! That was awesome!" She replied.

Josh bought up 1 glass and the whisky bottle. He handed it to her. "Drink?" He asked as he bought his glass up.

"Uh, sure, I guess…" She replied.

Josh poured out a glass for her first and then for him. He then put the bottle down on the coffee table in front of them.

"Movies always make driving look too easy, I think." Josh said, trying to start a conversation. He then took a sip.

"I thought it looked pretty good." Rainbow Dash replied as she took a sip. She then looked at the glass. "Are racing drivers allowed to drink alcohol?" She asked.

"Well, I'm allowed 1 unit max. And it has to be at least 7 days before I get in the car, otherwise I fail my drugs test."

"Drug test?"

Josh nodded. "There's a load of performance enhancing drugs back in my world. They were banned because they can have unwanted side effects. And they also affect judgment, causing more wrecks."

"Oh. That makes sense." She replied.

Josh took another drink. "So what about you? I've told you lots about me; now let me here about you."

"What's there to tell? Shouldn't you already know about me if you can watch me on that?" She said and pointed to the TV.

"Haha. You'd think, but I bet there's a lot that doesn't get shown on TV."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Whys that?" She asked.

"The show was made of a…uh…younger audience. So they had to make sure it was suitable for the little 'uns."

"Oh. I see…" _'Something sounds suspicious about that. But this isn't the time or place to ask him.'_ "Yeah, I'd hope that not everything about me had been published."

"Naughty pony." Josh replied with a wink as he took a drink.

"Dirty pervert." Rainbow Dash retorted as she also took a drink.

Josh gulped down his mouthful. "So, do you think Twilight will report this to the Princess?"

"Probably. She reports everything." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Ah. Okay." Josh said then sighed.

"You're worried about something. Aren't you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Just the fact that it might change the Princess's opinion of me." Josh replied. "And it might hurt my chances of cooperation. I'm sure I put a big dent in their trust of me today."

"Well, as long as you're being honest, you should be fine." She replied. "You've revealed everything, what more can you do? Besides, you haven't changed my opinion of you 1 bit."

"Hm. Thanks, Skittles. Nice to know somepony still trusts me."

"Or I could be lulling you into a false sense of security." She joked. she then drank the rest of her drink, put the glass down, and then dived onto Josh. "Now tell me everything!" She said in a playful tone.

"I-I don't know." Josh said through laughter. He was extremely ticklish. He almost spilt his drink, but he managed to put it down before he spilt any. "I've got n-nothin' to hide." He said as he laughed.

"Wrong answer!" Rainbow Dash replied as she tickled him with the feathers on her wings.

Josh suddenly wrapped his arms and legs around her and threw himself to the left, taking her with him. But this time, he now had her pinned. "Okay Pony, tell me what your planning on doing with me!" He said as he lightly ran his fingers across her wings, making her shudder. They were one of her most sensitive areas, so she was very ticklish there.

"S-stop! Stop! I don't know anything!" She replied through her laughter. She shoved Josh with her forehooves, forcing him backwards, and then she tried to take flight. As she tried to get away, Josh grabbed her tail and then pulled her back to him. She landed squarely on him, causing them to roll and land in a heap at the end of the couch.

They sat up and then looked at each other. Then laughed. "I was going easy on you." Rainbow Dash said.

"Of course, Skittles. As was I." Josh said with a smile. He then patted her on the back. Rainbow Dash returned the gesture and the smile.

"So you can be fun?"

"Well, yeah, if you call that fun, I mean there's tons more I could do. Whatever you want I guess. My attitude depends who I'm around, because some people, or ponies in this case, don't appreciate it much. Also, my sense of humor is kinda crap, so I usually end up killing the moments. That's why I usually stay quiet when people are talking or making jokes. Although I do sometimes risk it when I have something to say, and-"

All this time he'd been rambling, they had been getting moving closer and closer to each other. He picked up on this and shut himself up. Rainbow Dash was confused as to why he shut up for a split second, but then she picked up on it too.

They slowly moved closer and closer towards each other. Josh placed his hand on her shoulder and then moved his head forwards. Rainbow Dash mirrored his movement. Only inches away, suddenly, a loud screeching noise flooded the house, making the pair of them jump and yelp. It was the fire alarm.

"I should probably get that"

"Yeah sure I'm going to the bathroom"

They immediately shot off, both trying to hide their blushing as much as possible. Rainbow Dash flew into the bathroom, more or less slammed the door shut, and locked it.

Josh wafted the small amount of smoke away with his hand as he made his way into the kitchen. He'd left the popcorn in and it had started burning. There was even a small fire starting to catch on the paper bag.

Josh pulled the microwave open and pulled the bag out via the bit that wasn't on fire yet. He then ran into the back garden and dropped it on the floor. He was gonna stomp it out, but he was only wearing socks, so it would hurt. Allot.

He ran back inside and started filling the bowl they had popcorn in with water. He then ran off into the hallway to shut the smoke alarm up. Shutting it up immediately wouldn't have done anything, since the smoke was still coming in. Now that it was gone, it was more logical to turn it off.

Once he had silenced it, he wafted away as much of the smoke as he could with his hands as he went back into the kitchen. He picked up the bowl filled with water and bought it outside. He then threw it on top of the popcorn fire, extinguishing it.

He went back into the kitchen and opened all the windows. He put the bowl in the sink and then went to open some more windows, trying to flush out the smell of smoke. As he walked past the bathroom, he heard the toilet flush.

He walked into the dining room and opened the windows. He walked back into the living room and opened the windows in there aswell. He then threw himself onto the couch. He had a few seconds to think.

'_Well, I traded paint. And I got away with it. But I get the feeling I'm just gonna get bump 'n' runned right back at me…'_

Rainbow Dash emerged from the bathroom. "Sorry it smells a bit smoky. Probably should've remembered I put another popcorn in."

"Hehe, that's okay." She replied as she sat down next to him. "So…uh…what were we talking about before we were…uh...rudely interrupted?"

'_Is that my que?'_ "Uh…I can't remember…" Josh sort of trailed off. He sighed.

"Hm. Neither can I." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh took that as a sign. "Well, what'cha wanna do now?" He asked.

"I dunno. What other cool stuff have you got?"

"Uhh…I guess we really haven't got time for another movie. I can't really be bothered to setup the simulators for racing…you like music?"

"Music? What kind of music?"

"Hold on." He got up and ran up to his bedroom. He grabbed a handful of CD's in each hand and bought them back downstairs.

"Don't know what you're into, but I've got plenty." He said as he dropped all but one of the CD cases on the coffee table and then walked over to the TV. Besides the TV was a surround system. It was connected to the TV and Blu-ray player. Josh took the CD out of its case and put it into the player. He then walked back over and grabbed the control. He hit play.

He dropped the controller on the coffee table. "C'mon, Skittles! Join me!" He said as he started dancing. Well, if you could call it dancing. It was more of a weird type of shuffling.

"Josh, are you dancing!?" Rainbow Dash giggled.

"Yep! I'm absolutely crap, but it just comes natural whenever I hear a good tune. And singing. I can't do that very well either."

"Well," Rainbow Dash stepped off the couch. "I don't know how to dance or sing…"

"Then that makes 2 of us!" Josh replied as he grabbed one of her forehooves. "Besides, I love this song."

He pulled her towards her. "I don't know the lyrics."

"Don't worry, you don't have to sing. I just do because I enjoy it." Josh replied as they started twisting around each other and throwing themselves about. They were both sorta laughing as they did. Rainbow Dash was trying to keep her footing on her hind legs.

"_I was out on the highway  
I was out on my feet  
I was tired and Hungry  
I was late for the meet_

_I had a red sky behind me  
I had the bad guys on my tail  
I had a hundred different reasons  
to keep me falling away  
I had a red sky behind me  
with the stars coming  
and the thought that kept me going  
was soon I'm gonna make it with you"_

"What's this song called?" Rainbow Dash asked because she thought it would be a decent break in the lyrics for her to ask. She was still slightly chuckling to herself at Josh's singing. It wasn't THAT bad, but he was nothing special.

"It's called Red Sky by Status Quo. It's one of my favourite songs." He replied. "My Uncle was a huge Status Quo fan. I guess that's where I picked it up from."

Rainbow Dash was about to ask him some more, but then he cut into the next part of the lyrics.

"_I had the desert on both sides now  
I had the lights in my eyes now  
of the town I remember  
up ahead in the cold black sky"_

Rainbow Dash tried to join in as she sensed the chorus coming. She kinda remembered the lyrics, but she'd only heard it once, so it was kinda difficult. She sorta made the right sound, but no distinctive words came out.

"_I had a red sky behind me  
I had the bad guys on my tail  
I had a hundred different reasons  
to keep me falling away  
I had a red sky behind me  
with the stars coming  
and the thought that kept me going  
was soon I'm gonna make it with you"_

Rainbow Dash stopped singing (or trying to sing) after the chorus, because she didn't know the words that were coming up next.

"_In my dreams there is a picture  
of me in a big gold frame  
but will I be lucky to see  
if a red sky's lucky for me"_

Josh then proceeded to air guitar for the solo, which made Rainbow Dash laugh hard. "Do you always listen to this guitar-ey stuff?" She asked through her laughter.

"Yep. Rock, hard rock, metal, heavy metal, death metal, rock 'n' roll, the lot. And country."

"Country?"

"Certain ones, yes. Like Dierks Bentley. But you don't know who he is."

Josh then proceeded to finish up the song.

"_I had a red sky behind me  
I had the bad guys on my tail  
I had a hundred different reasons  
to keep me falling away  
I had a red sky behind me  
with the stars coming  
and the thought that kept me going  
was soon I'm gonna make it with you_

_I had a red sky behind me  
with the stars coming  
and the thought that kept me going  
was soon I'm gonna make it with you"_

_**(A/N: Song: Red Sky by Status quo © )**_

Josh cut the song short by grabbing the remote and slowly lowering the volume so it sounded like the song was fading out. Then he and Rainbow Dash fell back onto the couch, laughing.

"You're so much more fun than you make yourself out to be, Josh." Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks Skittles, I'll remember that." An idea suddenly hit him. "Speaking of Skittles, wait up. I'm just gonna grab something."

He then went into the kitchen and went into one of the drawers. He pulled out a packet of Skittles and bought them back into the living room, opening them as he did.

He took one out. "Skittles, Skittles?" He asked as he offered the bag to her as he sat down.

"Uhh…Skittles?"

Josh nodded. "That's the name of the sweet. They've got the colours of the rainbow in them. Try one."

Rainbow Dash tried to scoop some up, but she struggled using her hooves. "Ugh. You're so lucky having those hands of yours. You must grab things so easily."

"You got that right." He reached inside the bag and pulled out a handful. Rainbow Dash held one of her forehooves up and Josh placed them on her hoof. "But I'm sure there's advantages to having hooves sometimes. Like you could probably walk longer without them hurting."

"Yeah, but I'd still prefer hands." Rainbow Dash replied.

"But then you'd struggle to walk on all 4's. You'd have to completely change your anatomy so you stood on your hind legs. Could you imagine yourself doing that?"

"Mmm…I guess not…" Rainbow Dash replied as she tried some of the sweets Josh offered her.

"Anyway, I've told you lots about me, now why don't you tell me something about you?"

"Heh. Again? Well, I'm the weather mare of Ponyville. But I guess you already knew that?"

Josh nodded. "Continue."

"Uh, I've been trying to get into the Wonderbolts since I was a filly. I take it you know them too?"

Josh nodded. "We've got similar things like the Blue Angels or the Red Arrows. They perform stunt acrobatics like the Wonderbolts do."

"Have you ever been to one of their shows?"

"The Wonderbolts? No. B-"

"Well obviously. I meant one of the aerobatics performers from your world?"

"Oh yeah, I've been to see the Red Arrows loads of times. They perform every year at the British Grand Prix."

"Grand Prix?"

"It's a big race in England, the place I come from, using cars known as Formula 1 cars. They are the height of racing speed and technology. The fastest cars in the world."

"Then why don't you aspire to race those?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, to be honest, the quality of the racing isn't all that great. The cars have evolved so much there's barely any drivers input anymore. It's all done by computer. And there's barely any overtaking, and the drivers are too scared to trade paint like in NASCAR.I prefer NASCAR because it's more bumper-to-bumper, side-by-side, rubbin' 'n' racin' rather than see who can program a computer the best."

"Oh right. I think I get it…"

"Yeah, you'd probably have to watch it to understand."

"Yeah. Anyway, how about taking me for a fly in that thing?" Rainbow Dash asked and pointed to the Runabout sitting in the back garden.

Josh chuckled. "I think that's seen enough action for one day. Maybe tomorrow."

"Aw, c'mon! I took you for a fly! And it was effort carrying you most of the way."

Josh sighed. "I guess we can go for a short trip."

"Allright!" Rainbow Dash replied as she ran off the couch and out the back door. Josh hastily followed her.

He fired it up and then sat at the Helm controls. "Now, where do you wanna go?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Just somewhere…y'know. Cool."

"I don't know Equestria very well. You'll have to direct me."

"Well…uhh…just fly around and I'll give you a tour guide." She said.

"…Nah! I've got a better idea!" Josh said as he started pressing buttons.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Josh didn't respond and simply let the ship do the talking. The sound of the main Drive systems firing up made Rainbow Dash perk up. The ship gently lifted off the ground and the nose pointed upwards.

Rainbow Dash expected herself to start sliding back in the chair, but she didn't. "What gives? Why aren't we sliding back?"

"The ship has onboard artificial gravity generators. You'll always be stuck to the floor no matter what way we turn."

"Aww! That's boring!"

"On the contrary, it's actually kinda funny."

"Funny? How?"

"Like this." Josh hit 2 buttons and then grabbed onto the bottom of the console.

Rainbow Dash's nerves perked as she felt herself fall towards the ceiling. She bumped her head a bit. "Ow! Hey! What the big idea!?"

Josh laughed. "You can change the entire orientation of the ship." He reached up and pressed a button on the console, returning the gravity to normal. Rainbow Dash used her wings to stop herself hitting the floor again.

"Anyway, where are we going?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Watch." Josh replied. He hit a few buttons to make the ship go a bit faster. The black sky of the night just remained in the window.

"Are we…in space?" She asked.

"Yep." Josh said as he hit a few buttons to change the angle of the Ship to make Equestria visible in the windows. "We are approximately 36,000 kilometres above Equestria, also known as geostationary orbit. It means-"

"Save the nerdy stuff for Twilight, please." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "This is space…and that's Equestria?"

"Yep. One large continent. However, Equestria only takes up a small portion of the planet. Do you know what takes up the rest?"

"No. Nopony has ever ventured outside of Equestria. There's the land our ancestors came from, but that is now Equestrian territory aswell. Why do you ask?"

"The Sensors are picking up a world composed mostly of water. Like Earth. But there is another land mass on the other side of the planet. The sensors are having a hard time defining it though, because there seems to be some sort of interference coming from it."

"Interference?"

"Yeah. But it doesn't surprise me really. The Sensors still don't believe this is a planet, since it has no orbit. They think it's an asteroid."

"What's an asteroid?"

"To put it simply, space rock." Josh replied. "No life. No atmosphere. Nothing. I can't figure out how the planet works its orbits though to change it's day and night cycles."

"By magic. The 2 Princess's raise and lower the sun and the moon accordingly. Even a foal could figure that one out."

Josh shook his head. "I don't believe in the supernatural, Skittles. I believe that everything has a cause and effect. I don't believe that things can just happen for a reason or because you want them too. I believe that you have to do something, or trigger something, or something has to happen for the effect to happen."

"Err…you lost me. Were you basically saying you don't believe in magic?"

Josh sighed. "Yes."

"Then how do you explain all the magic you've seen?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"I can't." Josh replied simply. "I don't have the technology to give me the information I need to come up with a good case. But I do have a theory. There have been plenty of theories and movies and stuff that believe that if we could get a high enough IQ, we would be able to send telepathic messages, even levitate objects with the power of our minds."

"That's basically what Unicorns do. But what's an IQ?"

"To put it simply, it measures your mental capacity."

"Hmm…I guess that kinda makes sense, since Twilight is the smartest pony I've ever met."

"Maybe. But for this to work, the theories stated that we'd need IQ's in the thousands, maybe even the tens of thousands for that to work. I know Twilight's smart, but she's not that smart."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Why can't you just accept that magic exists? Oh wait, let me guess. It's 'illogical'?"

"Mostly, yes." Josh replied. "And I intend to prove it. But there's still plenty I don't understand, so I can't go around making wild accusations at the minute."

"Yeah, I get it." Rainbow Dash replied. "So, are there any other planets in the area?"

"Glad you asked. Long range scanners have picked up 1 other inhabitable planet."

"Well let's go see it." Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"No so fast. It's approximately 42 light years away. This ship has a top speed of Warp 5. That's about a 4 month travel time."

"Aw that sucks! Why can't this thing go any faster?"

"To do so would require more power and a bigger engine. This ship is nowhere near big enough."

"Why couldn't you have stolen a bigger ship whilst you were there?"

"Too big to operate for 1 guy and 2 ponies."

"Hmm…then why didn't you just take more ponies with you? I would've helped you."

Josh laughed. "You're full of questions. I had trouble hiding myself, Armour and Twilight yet alone the standard crew compliment of anywhere between 200 and 900. And even then they wouldn't know what they were doing."

"Mmm, yeah I suppose."

"So, what's it like seeing Equestria from this high?"

"It's…different. I never imagined ever leaving Equestria, but here I am. How is this even possible? Can you go anywhere with that gate of you in your backyard?"

Josh shrugged. "As long as imagination exists, then there will always be other universes. The only limit is imagination."

"…Then…it's unlimited?"

"Correct."

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Then you could be an explorer for the rest of your life…"

"I could if I wanted too." Josh replied. "But I'm sure I've said this before. But if not, I'll say it again. There's no way I'm able to tell the stability of the wormhole until it's too late. It could collapse in the next few seconds, or it could last billions of years, maybe even forever."

"Right. So your taking a big risk staying here anyway?"

"…Yes…"

"A risk taker. I like that. But I'm sure there's some 'logic' behind your decision. Don't even bother trying to explain it to me. But can I ask you something?"

"Fire away. I'm happy to answer any question within reason and to the best of my ability."

"What if Princess Celestia doesn't let you stay and that thing collapses? What will you do then?"

"Don't worry about that." Josh replied. "I have my ways, so don't worry. You'd miss me if I left you."

She shrugged. "Meh, yeah, I guess in a way I would…I guess I'd lose opportunities. Like Twilight said."

"And you will still get those opportunities. Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. If I get a choice, I will choose to stay. No doubt about it."

"But what if you don't get a choice?"

"Then I'll make an appeal and we'll battle it out in court. I'll press Celestia harder and harder until she snaps."

"Heh. Good luck with that one." Rainbow Dash replied. "But seriously for a minute. I like your ideas and your attitude, but I'd be careful around Celestia. Seriously, I wouldn't wanna fight someone who has the power to raise the sun. Whether it's violent or not."

"…I could sit here discussing things like that with you, but we'd be here forever. And I think you'd get bored pretty quickly."

"Probably." Rainbow Dash replied. She then yawned. "Gee, I'm beat."

"Do you want me to drop you off and your house?"

"If you could." She replied.

"Of course." Josh replied as he started pressing buttons. Then something else started beeping.

"What's that?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Looks like Shields were automatically raised by the Computer, because it detected an incoming projectile."

Suddenly, a green flash of light blazed past the window, rocking the ship from side to side and making a loud 'BOOM' noise.

"WHAT IN EQUESTRIA WAS THAT!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Don't know. The energy signature isn't in the database. I'll have to look it over more, but for now, in case someone, somepony, or something is shooting at us, I think we should get out of the sky." Josh replied. He hit a button and the ship started moving forwards. Josh set it on autopilot so he could have a look over what just went past them.

"That's odd…"

"What's odd?"

"I'm picking up traces of biological matter. I believe whatever blew past us was a living creature. There's not enough data here to say what it was, so it could've been anything from an Ursa to a particle of dirt."

"But I didn't think anything could breathe in space?"

"As far as I know there isn't. And it would seem like an awfully long time to hold your breath."

They came through the atmosphere and arrived at Rainbow Dash's house. "Anyway, I hope you had fun."

"Fun? I had an epic time with you tonight, Josh! We should totally do this again!"

"Hehe. Maybe under better circumstances next time."

"Nah, I like to spice things up." Rainbow Dash replied with a wink. She opened the front door to her cloud house. "See ya tomorrow, Champ."

"See ya tomorrow." Josh replied.

He made sure Rainbow Dash got in allright then he hit a few buttons on the console to start his way back home. It didn't take him too long. He parked it in his back garden again and then walked out.

He went inside, went upstairs into his room, and sat on the end of his bed. _'Damn. I almost had her. We almost kissed. I…I guess I do feel something for her…but this throws my entire sense of logic and reality into question. Not only that, but I should try and prolong it as much as I can. As much as I can help it, I don't want to start a relationship built on lies…'_

He got himself ready for bed and then went to bed. His eyes were heavy, but his brain was still active, churning out millions of 'what-if?' questions a second…

* * *

_**And that's another chapter down. I've got some pretty good ideas of where to go with this story, so I'm pretty set. It should be full speed ahead from here on! :D**_

_**If there's any other POV's you'd like the story to be told from, please let me know. I love to experiment! :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :D**_


	7. An Unexpected Surprise

_**Why hey there everypony. First of all, I want to apologise for the delay. I've been on holiday for the past week, and I was struggling to get back into the swing of things when I got home.**_

_**Also, could you please please, PLEASE cut me some slack with this chapter? Like I said above, I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, so I know there will be mistakes. If they seem serious enough, I will correct them later :)**_

_**Also, I'm starting college on Tuesday, so updates may get less frequent. That, and I've got an idea for another story I'm working on. So just be patient :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW :)**_

**_PS: I may have also written something in here some of you might find a bit controversial about the current global recession. Basically it looks like I'm pointing the finger and blaming America for it. That is NOT the case. I am merely interpreting the facts as I see them. I am not blaming anyone._**

* * *

There was a slight cloud coverage over Ponyville this morning. Josh had woken himself up bright and early, because Cheerilee had asked him to come to talk to the students at her school. Josh knew it was only a lower school, because he'd seen it in the show.

He was just getting changed when he heard a knock at the door. "Just a minute!" He called down. He pulled on a pair of black dress trousers, a black and white chequered shirt, and a pair of black socks, and then dashed downstairs.

He found Twilight in the doorway. "Oh. Hi Twilight." He greeted in a sort of disappointed tone.

"Hi." She replied in the same tone. "I've got a few things to say, both good and bad. I guess I should start with the good. First of all, I kinda overreacted yesterday. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted. I would've probably done the same."

"But I have been in contact with Princess Celestia about it. She's bluffed it off pretty well; she's not really that concerned…"

"But?"

"But. If I know Celestia, she's got another idea in mind. I know and she knows you aren't telling us everything. My advice would be that if you don't tell us now, the consequences may be catastrophic in the future."

Josh shrugged. "I don't know what else to say. I've told you everything."

"Yeah, you may have a pretty convincing face, tone, and attitude, but I know otherwise."

"No, seriously. I've told you everything. I really don't know how to prove that to you, but I have. Trust me, Twilight. There's nothing more for me to say."

She furrowed her brow. "My heart believes you, but my brain says otherwise. You may fool everypony else, but you don't fool me."

"I don't fool you because there's nothing to fool you about. I'm not gonna stop you on your pointless suspicions, but I warn you, it's a waste of time. There's nothing to find."

"Josh, don't bother trying to stop me. I learnt my lesson to trust my instincts at my brother's wedding, which you probably already know about."

"Very well, but I'm just warning you now, it's a pointless wild goose chase. Don't come crying to me when you figure that out."

"Actually, I should be saying that to you." Twilight replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, did Princess Celestia say anything else about me?"

"We had a little conversation about your trust."

"As I suspected. And?"

"And, well, I guess you'll have to wait and find out. But I do think she's gonna be questioning your request to stay here in Equestria."

"I would do the same in her position. Now if you don't mind, I've got to get to the school. I'm giving the kids a talking to."

"Yeah. I'll be going." Twilight replied as she turned around. "Bye."

"Bye." Josh closed the door behind her. He then went and put some shoes on. He grabbed a bag of bits with stuff in it he was going to use as talking points, and then went out the door, locking it behind him.

He was gonna take his Dads car, but he decided to take his race car instead. There were no laws about what was road legal here, so he decided why not. It's much more fun to drive.

He lowered himself inside the car, put his bag on the other seat, and did the extremely complicated start-up method. When the engine finally fired into life, he put it in gear and then pulled away.

It didn't take him long to find the school. He had a rough idea where he was going to begin with. He left the car quite far from the school. He didn't lock it, because it had no lock. But the complicated starting method was more than enough security for it anyway.

As he walked up, he noticed a few kids had already arrived bright and early, and were playing in the playground waiting for school to start. The sight bought back memories from his school years. Admittedly, he only left just over a month ago, but he still had his memories. Most of them were bad. He was never particularly fond of school. In many ways, he was like Twilight. He didn't really have any friends, and preferred to do things like read and study computers. However, unlike Twilight, it wasn't that he didn't want or need friends; it was more like he couldn't make any friends.

He walked up into the main room of the school. It was a very tiny school, but Ponyville was a very tiny town, so it sort of scales out right. "Oh good, you're here." Josh heard Cheerilee's voice say.

He looked at the other end of the room to find Cheerilee sorting through some papers. "I was wondering when you would be coming, considering I never gave you a time."

"My school used to start at around 8 30. I gathered it was similar here."

"We open at 8 30, but our lessons don't start until 8 40." She replied.

"Well great. Now, what's on their schedule for today?" He asked.

"That depends on how much you've got to talk about." Cheerilee replied. "I've got plenty of activities for them to do, but it depends on what you've got to talk about aswell. I was planning on them talking to you and getting to know you this morning, and then move on just…well, as it comes."

"Sounds reasonable enough." Josh replied. "Is there anything I should know? What age are these kids?"

"We teach from between 4 to 9 year olds."

"I see. Then they go onto middle school, correct?"

"Yep. And that's it."

"That it? You mean they finish education at 13?"

"Well, compulsory education anyway. After that, they can go off and do what they went, whether it be more school, or straight into work."

"That must come as a big shock to them. Where I come from, you're in school until your 16, and then you can go and do what you want."

"Hmm…I suppose that works." She replied.

"I guess we could sit here until the middle of next week arguing pros and cons." Josh said with a chuckle.

"You got that right." Cheerilee replied with a chuckle. "Well, the bell will ring any minute now. Do you want to prepare?"

"Prepare? I was just gonna answer whatever the kids throw at me."

"Uh, okay. You could at least do something like write your name on the board though." She replied.

"That's a good idea. I'll do that."

Cheerilee handed him a stick of chalk. Josh took it from her and wrote his name on the board the best he could. He handwriting was absolutely shocking. He learnt to print instead. He found writing in all capitals made it look neater.

Cheerilee chuckled. "Maybe you should take some writing lessons."

"My writing has always been that bad. No matter what me and my teachers tried to do at school, it was just useless."

"I'm sure what's in here more than makes up for it." Cheerilee replied as she tapped her head. "Some of the smartest students here had the worst handwriting. I think it's a common trait."

With that, the bell rang. "The kids will be coming in now. You pull up a chair. Er, sorry if there a tad small. I'll take a register, then I'll introduce you."

Josh nodded in acknowledgement as he walked over to the other side of the board. He pulled out a chair from against the wall and sat down. It was very small, but nothing he couldn't handle. It wasn't gonna be sitting down for too long anyway. He put his bag down next to him.

The kids started flowing in at a nice rate, occupying all the desks that were stationed in front of the blackboard. They were having their own conversations. "Allright class, settle down. I'm going to take a register, and then I'll tell you what we're doing today." Cheerilee said.

The class turned almost silent. Cheerilee started reading names off a book in front of her, and the said students replied with a "here". Once they were done, Cheerilee closed the book. "Okay. Today we have a very special guest. I'm sure you've all heard about Mr. Valentine at some point." Cheerilee motioned her hoof towards Josh. "He's here to give us all a very good talk today. And he's not getting any bits from this; he's doing this completely voluntary. So be sure to be nice to him."

Josh stepped off the chair. As he did, the little ponies clapped their hooves together.

He stood in front of them all. "Well, good morning children."

"Good morning, Josh"

"Valentine." Some of the kids said also. They giggled as they realised they were the only ones.

"I'm sure you've all heard rumours spreading around Ponyville about me already."

"I heard you came from space! Is that true!?"

"Well…kind of. I came from my world to your world through a gate in space. That's how I got here."

"How did that happen?" Asked another pony.

"It was due to something else that was happening back at my time." Josh replied. He was really struggling to try and watch his vocabulary so he could say things in ways that kids would understand.

"Mah sister told me yo've got these fancy thin'amajigs thet does all th' hard stuff fo' yo'." The yellow pony Josh identified as Applebloom said.

"Uh, yeah. They're called computers." He replied. "And you wouldn't happen to be Applejack's sister would you?"

"Uhh…yeah. How'd yo' know thet?"

"Take a whild guiss, Pard'ner." He replied with the best southern accent he could do. Making all the other ponies laugh.

"Would you maybe like to tell us what life was like back on your world?" Hinted Cheerilee.

Josh smiled. "Life was…different, to say the least. Nowhere near as effici – uh, smooth and peaceful as this world though. You see, trust is a hard thing to come by back in my world. But that's mainly because our world thrives on competition. And to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"What kind of competitions do you have?" Asked a small pony in the middle row.

"We mainly use sports. I'm sure we've got plenty of sports that our worlds share. Football, basketball, rugby-"

"What about you?" Asked the orange pony Josh identified as Scootaloo.

"What?"

"The sport you do. Tell us about it."

'_I gather Rainbow Dash might've told her…' _"Uh, my sport is particularly different from others. It's called motorsport, which is a type of racing using machines."

"How do you run it without magic?" Asked another pony.

"Uh, using this thing called an engine. You fill it with fuel and it goes."

"Fuel?"

Josh nodded. "Fuel is an energy source. The same way you eat food, the engine eats fuel to give it energy." Josh replied, trying to explain in the simplest ways he knew how. "That energy then drives the wheels on the car."

"So how long have you been doing this racing?" Asked Cheerilee.

"Me? I've been racing since I was 4, that was racing little remote control cars." Josh pulled a frame with a picture in it out of his bag and showed it to them. It was a picture of a 4 year old him holding the car he raced.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwww." The class chirped out in unison.

"Yes, yes, I'm cute, aren't I?" Josh said rolling his eyes.

"So did you win?" Asked Scootaloo.

"Win what? Races? Yeah."

"Well duh." She replied. "I meant the whole thing. Like hoofball leagues. How many points?"

"Oh, you mean the championship?"

She nodded.

"Well, that's what I'm just about to come onto." Josh replied. "I started go-karting when I was 8 years old." He got another picture frame out of the bag and placed on the desk so all could see.

"But did you win?" Asked Scootaloo.

"Scootaloo, no interrupting." Cheerilee said in a stern voice.

"Oh it's quite allright. I get this all the time." Josh reassured her. He looked at Scootaloo. "I didn't win the championship, but I did win another award called Rookie of the Year." He bought a trophy out of the bag. It definitely looked aged.

"Whoa…"

"The Rookie of the Year award is given to the best rookie of the season. Which was me back in 2004. I won my first championship when I was 10." He pulled out another trophy. "And…well," he shrugged "the rest is history really. I could sit here rambling on to you about sports and racing all day. But I'm sure that's not why I'm here."

"Aw, c'mon!" Scootaloo complained.

"I'll chat to you later if you want, Scootaloo, but not for now."

"Uh, okay – wait, how did you know my name?"

"Oh, uh, I heard it on the register."

"…Oh yeah…"

"Anyway, anypony else have a question?" Josh was starting to get the hand of putting 'pony' on the end of every word when addressing a large group of ponies.

One of the ponies at the back raised her hoof. "Yes?"

"What are human schools like? And what was it like for you?"

"Oh-er…erm…" He chuckled as things from school flooded back to him. "The schools themselves are pretty good. What was it like for me? Er, from my point of view, it was hours of fun. From everyone else's…probably not…next question?" He bought it to a halt quickly, because he wasn't sure if he could talk about some of his experiences at school. He wouldn't know if they were appropriate or not, and if Cheerilee would approve.

A small pink pony Josh identified as Diamond Tiara raised her hoof. "Yes?"

"Why do you have a girl's haircut?" She said in a way that was supposed to make it sound offensive. A few ponies snickered as she finished her sentence.

Cheerilee bit her lip and looked over at Josh. She was worried that her student may have offended him, but he didn't seem phased, so she didn't raise an objection.

Josh flicked his head to the left, making his hair swish. "Because I like it." He said simply. "In my world, there are no particular genders for hairstyles, just what you like."

"But…it's so long…"

"Yeah? That's how I like it. Sometimes I tie it back. That's my 'I mean business' look." He said with a chuckle. "Anymore questions?"

A pony raised his hand at the back. "Yeah?"

"What's the leader of your world like?"

"Well, we don't have a world leader so to speak. There are plenty of pieces of land masses with their individual leaders. In fact, I've got a map right here." He pulled a rolled-up map from out of his bag and unrolled it. He then presented it to the class, holding it at the top, and then he stood to the side and used his other hand to point

"This is a map of our world." He stated. "This is the country where I come from. It's called England." He pointed to England on the map.

"Each individual country has its own leader. They decide how to run it and the laws. I don't know the exact number, but I believe that there are around 195 individual countries verifying in all shapes and sizes."

"195!?" Cheerilee exclaimed.

Josh nodded.

"Wow…"

"The geography of our world is pretty complex. Mainly because we don't have as much control over it as you do. We don't control the weather, or anything like that?"

"Then who does control the weather?" Asked Scootaloo

"Mother Nature." Josh replied. "The weather just kinda does itself. Whatever happens naturally happens."

"Wow. Life sounds so free and easy with all these things that just happen." Cheerilee said.

"On the contrary, it's allot harder than it looks. There's always something going on, like the recession and economic crisis."

"What's a recession?" Asked Sweetie Belle.

Josh sighed. "Hmm…how do I word this in a way you'll understand…?" He thought long and hard until he sort of came up with a way. But first, he had to start with some background. "There are many controversial things about this subject, and some people may disagree with what I'm about to say, but I'm going to state the facts as I see them."

He cleared his throat. "It all started here, in the United States of America, or USA." He pointed on the map. "There's an entire business built upon sub-prime mortgages. Can anypony tell me what a mortgage is?"

"Oo, oo, I heard my parents talking about this the other day." A pony in the back of the class said. "Isn't it where somepony else gives you money to help you pay for your house but you have to pay them back?"

"Uh…that's about right." Josh replied. "I'm impressed. Not many human kids your age know about this sort of stuff. And I guess you all know what a bank is?"

"The place where you keep money?" Scootaloo suggested.

"Correct." Josh replied. "The sub-prime mortgage business revolved around US banks giving high-risk loans to people with poor credit histor – Uh, which means they aren't very reliable and are unlikely to pay back what they owe. Like if you leant a toy or money to a friend and he never gave it back. These and other loans and assets – things you own, physical things, - are bundled into one big agreement, called a CDO, and then sold on to investors around the world. You with me so far?" Josh would've explained the CDO a bit more, but he thought that would be a bit complicated.

The majority of the kids nodded. Josh just thought the other kids that didn't nod were too shy.

"You're very smart, I'm surprised." Josh said. "Now, at the time, house prices were falling. And still are. Falling house prices coupled with high interest rates – that's the rate at which it is paid by the borrower for the use of the money for the lender – lead to lots of people who couldn't repay their mortgages. As a result, the investors suffered losses, making them reluctant to take on more CDO's. And the banks didn't want to loan money to each other, now knowing how many bad loans their rivals' were involved in. Basically, the banks took in money and held it tight to their chests, not wanting to give any of it away in these unpredictable circumstances. That made it very hard for companies and individuals to get money. And then the inevitable recession, job losses, bankruptcies, repossessions, and a rise in living cost came along."

Josh was expecting to see a sea of blank faces. But no. Some ponies had blank faces, but most of them had interested expressions on their faces, giving him the impression that they understood.

"And you actually understood all that?"

The ponies nodded. "What I don't understand is why you couldn't just have 1 bank. Then none of this would've happened." Scootaloo asked.

"Heh. We haven't quite got to that stage yet. Give it a few more decades and we might come to our senses." He replied.

"So you're now basically stuck in that never ending cycle?" Asked Cheerilee.

"Mm…not quite. We've got some bailouts happening right now, but they're just taking their sweet time to work. As they say, time is money. The longer they go on, the more debt rises. The more debt rises, the longer it takes to pay off."

"Oh, I see. Well, you certainly know what you're talking about, Josh."

The bell suddenly echoed across the classroom. "Okay class, take a break. When you come back, we'll start our first lesson of the day."

All the kids began to run out of the classroom.

_**MEANWHILE…**_

4 ponies were walking off the train station at Ponyville. Everypony was getting out of their way, because they knew who they were. They were members of the Royal Guard.

They walked in a tight formation. "Coffee…need coffee…" The white colored Earth pony stallion said.

"You could've got some back at the station, but you didn't want too." The white colored Pegasus replied.

"10 bits!? Are you crazy!? It's cheaper in Canterlot, probably tastes better too."

"Stop arguing." Zhengyi suddenly butted in.

"I'm not arguing, I'm complaining!" The white Earth pony replied. "I wouldn't even be complaining if you hadn't got me up so early."

"Yeah, why did you get us up on our day off anyway, Zhengyi?" The brown Unicorn mare asked.

Zhengyi smiled. "I already explained to you. We're gonna bring that human in. There's bound to be decisive evidence in his house somewhere that proves he has hostile intent. If we can do that, we can put him on trial, and then we can seize his possessions. By doing that, we'd get insight into this technology that appears to be centuries ahead of anything we have here in Equestria."

The Pegasus chuckled. "You really do have a grudge against that human, don't you?"

Zhengyi shrugged. "Hey, if you don't want to go down in history, then you can back out right now. But think about it. We'd be the ones responsible for not only bringing that hairless ape to justice, but also propelling Equestria into a new age. Think about it. We'd be heroes. Legends. We'd be praised throughout Equestria. Maybe our own celebrations. They might build statues in our honor."

"S-st-statues?" The Earth pony butted in, suddenly showing a spark of enthusiasm.

Zhengyi smiled. "You're listening now, aren't you? You 3 go to his house, I've just gotta make a quick stop to ask for a favor." He said as he broke from the formation.

Zhengyi made his way across the town towards the library. When he reached the front door, he knocked on the door with his hoof.

"Spike, door!" He heard come from inside.

"I got it!" A reply came with the sound of little footsteps beating towards the door. Slowly getting louder and louder.

Spike yanked the door open.

"Hello." Zhengyi began before Spike could even say anything. "Is Twilight there?"

"Uh, Twilight, somepony from the Royal Guard is here to see you." Spike called as he stepped away from the door.

Zhengyi smiled and walked through the door. Spike went off to complete whatever task he was doing prior to Zhengyi's arrival.

Twilight trotted down the stairs and looked at Zhengyi. She immediately recognized him. "Oh…it's you…" She didn't sound too pleased.

"Hello Twilight." He began. "I came to ask a favor of you."

"Favor? What type of favor?"

He took a few steps forward. "We are trying to investigate the human's house without him finding out. To put it simply, I want you to help me buy as much time as possible."

"Buy time? How? What are you gonna do to him? What are you looking for?"

He looked her in the eye and drew a smile across his face. "I know he's hiding something. And I'm gonna find out what it is before he does any harm to Equestria."

Twilight didn't object as she also felt like he was hiding something. "Zhengyi, I think he's hiding something too. But I don't think he wants to hurt anypony. I think there's another reason."

"Hmph. I thought you would think as much." Zhengyi replied. "But I intend to prove you wrong after I find conclusive evidence in his house. That's why I want you to try and keep him out of there for as long as you can."

Twilight sighed. "Is that an order or a request?"

Zhengyi smiled. "Personally, I was considering it more of a request. But I have been given the go-ahead by none other than your brother." He pulled out a piece of paper with approval words written all over it. Twilight immediately recognized the writing as her brothers. "I can order you if I want. But I don't want to."

"Well…-Wait a minute. Only Shining Armor has signed this! Why hasn't it got his superiors approval!?"

"Ah-heh-heh-heh, well," he put the piece of paper away. "We're sorta trying to keep it quiet. But do I have to order you or not?"

"Why are you keeping it quiet?"

"Lack of evidence." Zhengyi replied. "Or would you rather I made it a matter of security and locked him down straight away?"

'_Why would he want to do that? That would only-'_ Twilight suddenly realised what was going on. _'Is he bartering with me, or blackmailing me?'_

She sighed. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"

Zhengyi grinned. "Good." He took a few steps around the room. "Just generally keep him distracted. I just need him to be kept out of his house for as long as you can. Ideally till about 5 O'clock. However, if we leave any earlier, look for a white Pegasus wearing a Royal Guard uniform. That'll be you que that your safe. Use any means necessary to keep him away."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Any means necessary?"

"Just anything you can think of. Keep him entertained. Play games, read books, teach him something, take him out somewhere…seduce him…"

"Seduce him!?" Twilight jumped at the thought.

Zhengyi shrugged. "Like I said anything necessary. Who knows, you might like him." He joked.

"W-what if I refuse?"

Zhengyi glared at her. "Then I'll have you arrested under suspicion of treason."

"…But then wouldn't your little plan be exposed?" That wasn't the first thing that came to Twilight's mind, but it was the most logical to say first.

Zhengyi shrugged. "By then it'll be too late. Everypony will know anyway. I've got nothing to lose. But you have."

Twilight thought long and hard about it. She really did have no choice. But she shrugged it off. It wouldn't come to that, right…? Right?

"Okay Zhengyi, you've got a deal."

"Perfect." Zhengyi replied with a smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some investigating to do."

He walked out of the door and headed towards Josh's house. It was a little walk away, but not too far. He found the rest of his team waiting at the door. "Was it locked?" He asked as he slowed down as he neared them.

"Yeah, but not too difficulty." The brown Unicorn mare replied. "Strange. He's got all this technology, yet he can't even put an enchantment spell on his lock to stop magical intruders."

"Magic doesn't exist in his world, Eagle Eye. There's no need."

Zhengyi opened the door. "Okay. Hurricane, Slip Slide, you 2 check out that upper level. Eagle Eye, me and you will go check out…that."

Zhengyi pointed to the thing that was just barely visible sitting in Josh's back garden. The ponies started moving to do what Zhengyi had ordered them to do.

Zhengyi and Eagle Eye moved through his house and out the back door. They walked the big thing. "What is that?" Asked Eagle Eye.

"According to the Captain's report, it's a spaceship of some description. From another universe. He acquired it after using that thing behind it he calls a 'wormhole'."

"Interesting…"

There was a little rectangular section engraved into the side that looked somewhat like a door. Zhengyi knocked on it with his hoof. To their surprise, the door just opened.

"Okay, now, according to the Captain's report, it has some sort of personality built in inside it." He said as they went inside.

"What does he mean by that?"

"Like it has a mind of its own." They stood in the middle of the ship. Zhengyi cleared his throat. "Uh…hello?"

The screens and consoles all around the ship suddenly sparked into life, and all the lights came on. "Systems online." A robotic female voice said.

"Who's there?" Asked Eagle Eye.

"This is the L-Cars onboard Computer System." The voice stated.

"What the hay is L-Cars?"

"Don't know, but it's not important. Yet." Zhengyi replied. "Okay, erm, computer. Can you tell me more about this ship? Like, everything?"

"To say everything about 'this ship' would take over 15 days. Please either confirm your choice or specify another section." The Computer replied.

"Uh, okay, er, can you tell me about the weapons on it?"

"This vessel has a compliment of 4 Phaser Banks, 4 Torpedo Tubes, 38 Photon Torpedoes, and 5 Tricolbalt Torpedoes."

Zhengyi looked at Eagle Eye. "3 different types of weapons? Something tells me that's not just for self defence."

"Agreed. But it just doesn't feel like a warship to me. So perhaps there's a different story."

"Perhaps. Um, Computer, could you please tell me more about these weapons?"

"The Starfire is equipped with 4 type-4 Phaser Banks, 2 forward, 2 aft. The torpedo compliment consists of 38 type-4 Photon Torpedoes and 5 Tricolbalt Torpedoes."

Zhengyi sighed. "I don't think we're gonna get anywhere with this thing, we clearly won't understand a word it says."

"Yeah, let's go see if the others had any better luck." Eagle Eye added.

Zhengyi nodded and the 2 of them exited the ship. "But we did find something out." Zhengyi said.

"What's that?"

"That the ship is obviously equipped with lots of weaponry. If that was a mere transport, it would've had 1 weapon for self defence, not all those things it said it had. It's obviously a warship. Not a top of the line one, but probably still capable of challenging us. Speaking of which," Zhengyi turned around. "You carry on. I just remembered something."

"Yeah, sure." Eagle Eye replied as she kept walking.

Zhengyi walked back towards the ship. To his surprise, the door automatically opened. Everything was still on inside. It obviously hadn't turned off yet. "Computer, what's the chance of this ship winning in a fight on this planet."

"Long range Sensors detects a pre-industrial civilisation. Superiority index is 99 point 83 percent."

Zhengyi's heart skipped a beat when he heard that in the chance of battle, their chances of winning were a mere point 17 percent.

He left and walked back into the house, where he heard the others upstairs. He followed the noise up the stairs and then into a room on the left. "Hey Zhengyi, don't all these things he's got around his bedroom kinda look similar to the one outside?" Eagle Eye asked.

Zhengyi examined them. He had loads of things either hanging on strings or on top of his desks and cabinets. Or on shelves on his bookshelf. "They do look very similar to the ones outside."

"But if he claims that they're from another universe, what are these?"

Zhengyi chuckled. "A mere coincidence, obviously. If there from another universe, there's no way he could've possibly known."

"Agreed." Hurricane, the Pegasus replied.

"But what if he's from that universe and is just hiding it?" Slip Slide asked.

"That would be very hard. I doubt it." Zhengyi replied. "Did you 2 find anything?"

"Well, for what you want, we found this." Slip Slide pointed to a big book that he'd sat on the bed. It was titled 'World History'. "It says loads of things about wars, sufferings, stuff like that you were looking for. That should be decisive evidence."

"Decisive evidence? It's over a thousand pages long! Of course it's decisive!" Hurricane replied.

"Yeah. And they even had this thing called a World War. That should be proof enough, right?"

"World War? Like a war of their entire world?" Asked Zhengyi.

"What was your first clue?" Replied Hurricane sarcastically.

"Funny. Anything else?"

"Well, it might not be much, but I found this." Eagle Eye replied. She used her magic to levitate a small, red object in front of Zhengyi's nose. It was no longer than an inch.

Zhengyi picked it up using his magic. "I don't know what it is, but something about it feels…weird. Like it's-"

"Bigger on the inside." Zhengyi interrupted. "Yes, I agree. There's definitely something inside of it. But it doesn't feel like it's something…physical. It feels like something else entirely. It feels like it knows something. Like it's an entire book written in a different language that we've got to discover."

"That's the world's smallest book then." Hurricane replied.

"But…what is it?" Asked Slip Slide.

"I don't know…" Zhengyi rotated it around and looked at it from all sides. He noticed that at the front of it, it had a small rectangular bit sticking out of it. It looked like some sort of key. But from what he and Eagle Eye sensed, it didn't feel like one. "Hm. There's definitely more to this than meets the eye. What do you think, Eagle Eye?" He asked as he handed to her.

She picked it up with her magic. "There's something inside of it, but I can't tell what it is. And it's not physical." She rotated it around and looked at it from all angles. "SanDisk…"

"SanDisk? What's a SanDisk?" He asked.

"The name of it, obviously." Eagle Eye replied. She turned it over. "There's more writing on this side."

"What does it say?"

"…Cruzer Blade 32GB. Made in Chin-a. Then there's just a bunch of random symbols, numbers, and letters. I can't make heads or tails of those."

"What's a GB?" Asked Slip Slide.

"Not sure. A unit of measurement maybe? Perhaps it size?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is what's inside of it. We'll take it, but I don't want it mixed in with the other evidence. I want this taken away for further analysis. I want to know what's inside of it before anyone decides what to do with it."

The 4 of them walked out of the room. "Allright, start looking around in general. We're gonna need more evidence to make the case for the trial."

_**MEANWHILE…**_

The kids were all leaving the school. "Thank you for doing that for me today. I think the kids absolutely loved it." Cheerilee said.

"It was my pleasure." Josh replied with a smile.

"You really know you're talking about. But you seem a little…"

"Crazy? Yeah, I'm a bit of a risk-taker. People like me were dubbed as 'Adrenalin junkies' back in my world. But most of my decisions tend to be with logically weighed up odds."

"Well, you certainly showed it today."

"Thank you. Goodbye, Cheerilee." Josh replied as he started walking away.

"Goodbye." She replied.

Josh made his way to his car, where he found Twilight leaning against it. "Twilight? Hey. What you doing here?"

"I came to see you. I just didn't want to interrupt your…lecture."

"Haha. The kids were great. Very knowledgeable." He said as he opened the door. "Wanna ride?"

"Sure. As long as you don't nearly kill us again."

Josh chuckled. "Oh Twilight…"

Twilight sat on the passenger seat. "You don't mind me putting this in the footwell, do you?" He asked as he showed her his bag.

"Oh no, of course not…what's a footwell?"

"The bit where your feet go." He replied and pointed to the small hole on the floor of the car. He put his bag down there. Twilight's hind legs didn't go down that far anyway.

He performed the complex start up procedure, and the engine roared into life. He put it in gear and set off. "So, how was it?" Twilight asked.

"Oh it was great. The kids are WAY smarter than I first thought. Some of 'em even showed a bit of backbone. I like that."

"Cool. Uh, hey, can we go back to the library? There's, uh, something I wanna show you."

"Erm, I'm free, so yeah, can do." Josh turned to start heading to the library. "And you might wanna put your harness on. 'Cause if I gun it, you'll be the first one to know about it?"

Twilight gulped. She looked around for the harness and saw the straps lying freely around. She grabbed the 2 from the left and the 2 from the right, then the 1 that came up in between her legs. She couldn't figure out how to get them all clipped together, so she just squeezed them tightly around her.

Josh put his foot to the floor, making the speedometer slowly climb. He changed gears in the blink of an eye, with aggressive kicks from his legs and swings from his left arm.

Twilight's heart rate started climbing at exponential rates. She could barely look at what was going on in front of her eyes.

In under a minute, Josh had taken them from the school straight to the library. He spotted his braking point, then braked a little early to try and compensate for the lack of grip on the dirt.

He bought the car to a stop just outside the library. He switched it off and looked over at Twilight. "That wasn't too bad was it?" He said with a smile.

"No…not at all…" Twilight replied, shaking.

Josh and Twilight stepped out of the car in unison. "Now, what was it you wanted to show me?"

"Oh yeah, uh, it's in here." She replied as she walked into the library.

Josh raised an eyebrow. _'She seems awfully disorientated…' _He followed her in.

"I was wondering if you'd like to learn something about magic." She said.

"Uh, I don't see why not, but I wouldn't be able to perform anything."

"Oh no, of course you couldn't. But you seem like the type who likes to know all."

"Heh-heh, yeah. Yeah, I am."

"Well great. I've got some studying to catch up on anyway."

Twilight spent the next hour or so teaching Josh about magic. About what the symbols in the books meant. About how magic is channelled. About the source of magic. About exercises Unicorns do to improve their magic or keep it fit. Josh pointed out that there was no direct source of power to fuel their magic, but since neither of them had evidence to back up their theories, they were kinda stuck at a stalemate. Throughout the time they spent together, Josh could tell something was bugging her. She was constantly stuttering, or seeming as if she was improvising. Or creating some sort of excuse to make things go on for longer.

"Ah, well," Josh rose up and stretched. "That was really good, Twilight. But I really should be off now. It's been pretty hectic for me these past few days."

Twilight glanced at the clock. _'Oh no! It's only 4:30!' _She bit her bottom lip. "Uh, wait. Can I interest you in dinner?"

"Thanks for the offer, Twi, but I should really go home. I'm not that hungry anyway."

"Oh, okay, how about, uh, testing?"

"Testing?"

"Yeah, uh, testing the, uh, magic I've been studying."

"I'm sure you could do that by yourself. I really must be going. I don't want to intrude"

"No, no, you're not intruding. If fact, quite the opposite. I want you to stay."

"Why?"

"To…uh…" _'…Nothing. C'mon dammit! Think, Twilight, think!'_ "To, uh…could you…help me…have…drink…with me?" _'Did I really just stutter like that…?'_

"Uh, sorry. I probably shouldn't."

'_Ugh! I can't believe he declined that! What the buck makes this guy tick!?'_ "Uh…would you…take me…for…a drive?"

"A drive?"

"Yeah, a drive."

"Uhh…I don't see why not."

All of Twilight's muscles suddenly relaxed and in her mind, she let out a sigh of relief. _'Well, that's him distracted. Now I'm probably gonna have a heart attack anyway.'_

The 2 of them made their way to the car. Josh had to help Twilight buckle into the seat, because it wasn't a normal seatbelt, it was a harness. Once he had her sorted, he fired up the engine and set off. "So where to!?" He shouted over the roar of the engine.

"I dunno! Just drive!" She replied.

"Uh, okay! Anywhere in particular!?"

"Not really! I just wanted to take a drive!" _'Maybe that's what makes him tick…'_

Josh just drove around Ponyville and the outskirts for a few minutes. Occasionally picking up speed or putting it in a slide, but nothing too serious. After a little while, Josh started turning back towards the library.

Twilight glanced at the town clock as they went past. _'Darn! I'm still 20 minutes out, and I'm completely out of ideas! I've gotta play my trump card now that I know he won't decline.'_

The library was in sight. "So, you do this for fun?" She didn't have to shout so much when the engine was quieter at lower RPM's.

"Yep! Racing is what I live for!"

"So you must be pretty good at it, right?"

"Damn straight! I'm gonna be the best one day!"

Twilight smiled. "Show me."

Josh glanced at her. "What?"

"Show me how good you are. Strut your stuff. Make an impression. Give me the ride of my life."

Josh smiled and a fire lit up in his eyes. "You. Are. On, Miss Sparkle!" Josh started slowing down and adjusted a few things on the centre console.

"Josh, you might wanna turn! Otherwise you'll hit the library!"

Josh held the clutch in, pounded the gas, bounced the RPM's off the end of the dial, dumped the clutch, and the back end snapped loose. Josh turned in the direction he wanted, flicking the car around to the right. He then let off the gas, bringing the nose around to face the library. He then started feathering the gas and sawing at the wheel. He was doing donuts around the library.

After 5 times around, Twilight said "is that all you got!?" _'I feel sick…'_

"Ha! Not even close! Wanna go for a longer, faster slide!?" Without response, Josh turned more to increase the distance of the slide. As the distance increased, so did the speed. Eventually, Josh knew he should stop the slide, in case he started getting in other ponies way.

He spied something to his liking in a few trees in the distance. He let off the gas and turned towards it. The car naturally moved in the way he commanded it to. He then put the pedal to the metal and went through the gears.

Twilight saw what was coming up. 2 trees that looked just barely wide enough for the car to get through. Maybe an inch or 2 either side. Her heartbeat just kept going up and up and up. "Josh, there's no way in Equestria your gonna make that!" She screamed.

"Oh just trust me, Twilight!" Josh replied with a devilish smile on his face.

They sped towards the trees, getting closer and closer, faster and faster. Twilight knew that they weren't gonna make it. Her heart felt like it was pounding its way out of her chest. If she breathed any harder, she'd start hyperventilating.

The trees were suddenly only meters away. Twilight couldn't bear it any longer and she shut her eyes and braced for the impending impact…

…The time passed, but she didn't feel the impact. She slowly opened her eyes to find that they had cleared it. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Josh laughed. "Did you really doubt me?" He asked as he began to slow down.

"Well…that was really…crazy. How did you know we'd fit?"

"Do you really think I would race without knowing the dimensions of my car? I've squeezed through smaller gaps before." He replied.

He turned the car around and headed back to the library. He parked it outside the front door. "Well, that was fun, Twilight. We should do this again sometime. But now I really have to get home."

Twilight looked over at the town clock. It was quite difficult to see from the library, but she still saw it said 4:50. _'…I guess Zhengyi was right…'_

"Wait, Josh. There's something else I want to talk to you about…"

"…Okay, what is it-"

"Inside." She interrupted.

"Uh, if that's what you want…"

Josh and Twilight stepped out of the car in unison. Twilight went through the library door first, holding it open slightly for Josh. Josh walked through the door and made sure it shut behind him. "This way." Twilight said softly.

Josh acknowledged her and followed her. She walked up the stairs and into her bedroom.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "So, this is your room?"

"Uh-huh." She replied. _'Damn, why do I have to be so bad at improvising?'_ "I, uh, wanted you to, uh, take a look at something."

"Take a look at something?"

"Yeah, uh, it's a little project I was working on a while back, but I never quite got it finished." She started rummaging through all the junk she had around her room. "I, uh, was, uh, trying to, uh, develop my own spell…"

"Develop your own? How'd it turn out?"

"Not great if I'm honest." Twilight finally bought out a file. She laid it on her bed and opened it up. Inside, there was lots of paper. Josh recognised some of the symbols on them, since it was what he'd just been discussing with Twilight. He also recognised some of the mathematical calculations, since he'd used them in the past.

In reality, it was just one of Twilight's old school projects. At the time, it only had to be theory, so she passed with flying colours. But in secret, she'd never actually got it to work. "I'll try and explain it as simple as I can. I wanted to come up with a way to send something to another Unicorn. But not just a paper, something bigger. An item. And also, I'd like to be able to send a telepathic message with that too."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Telepathic? That's more difficult that it sounds. But what you're suggesting is actually very plausible."

"I know, right? I've tried everything, but I just can't get it to work. I mean I haven't miscalculated at all, look!" She pointed at all the papers sprawled out across her bed. "The only explanation I came up with is that something is stopping it. But I don't know what that something was-"

"You forgot to factor in background radiation." Josh stated, interrupting her a tiny bit as he did.

"…What?"

"Background radiation, you haven't compensated for that. It's getting mixed with whatever it is your trying to move. If you tried to establish some sort of connection between the sender and the receiver before you try and teleport it, you might be able to form…like a corridor in subspace. It would stop anything interfering what that."

Twilight's expression was a mixture of amazement and frustration. _'He did not seriously just solve that…. Damn, I didn't even know what background radiation was until he said it just now…'_

"Now, tell me what's going on." Josh said.

Twilight flinched. "What? What's going on?"

"Twilight, you've been stuttering for the past almost 2 hours. Something is obviously up. I'm here to help." Josh replied.

Twilight sighed and her mind suddenly went blank. _'I'm all out of options. I'm gonna have to...'_

"Allright. Please, sit down." Twilight pushed the stuff off her bed and sat herself down. Josh perched on the edge next to her.

'_This is crazy; I don't know much about stallions or relationships…where do I start…? Well, I guess it comes down to feelings. Do I love him? Can I love him? He's…he's one of the smartest guys I've ever known…he's just amazing. I've never known anyone as smart as him...and he loves my own intelligence…he's…everything I've dreamed of…'_

"You're the first real guy I've ever met where I don't have to simplify things so that they'd understand…"

"Why thank you for the compliment." Josh replied with a smile.

'_But this is the first time where I might actually say something dumb anyway…' _"And you are such an amazing guy. You're so smart. And you saved my life back in that universe. What did you call it again…Star Trek?"

"Hehe, yeah, that was nothing. And I put you in that situation anyway, so if anything, you should be blaming me."

"But…you're just really nice…and…"

"And what?"

Twilight blushed hot. "I don't know how to say it… could you close your eyes?"

"Umm…okay…" Josh shut his eyes.

'_Well, here it goes…' _Twilight shimmied herself closer to him. Then she leant forwards and planted her lips on his.

Josh jumped when he first felt it. But then he realised what was happening and joined in with the kiss. Twilight almost immediately pulled away.

"Iloveyou!" She blurted out and slammed her eyes shut. She tensed up as if she was bracing for something. The town clock suddenly rung out with 5 consecutive BONG's, signalling it was 5 O'clock. Twilight sighed in her mind. _'If only I had a minute less…'_

Josh was absolutely gobsmacked. He wasn't expecting that at all. His cheeks tinted red a tiny bit. What happened to all the stuff she'd said about him in the past? Did that not matter anymore? Did she think he'd just forget? Nevertheless, he played along.

He sighed. "Listen…Twilight…"

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel something for you…but-"

"But what? Don't tell me you don't feel the same way!?" She replied in a crackly voice.

'_So much for calm, cool and collected.' _"Twilight. Just think about it for a second." Josh put an arm around her shoulders. "I do like you, but I don't think we exactly slot together. You want a quite life to study and research. I want to live life in the fast lane racing. We'd struggle to keep up with each other. I think it would be better for both of us if we went down our chosen paths instead of trying to form one together, which could inevitably destroy both our dreams. I think we'd be a lot happier that way."

Twilight thought for a moment. It sounded like what he said was for the better of both of them, but was he only thinking of himself? "It's not fair…" She said softly.

"Life isn't fair, Twilight. There's always something you've got to trade. Pros and cons. There are a million things in this universe you can have, and a million things you can't have."

Twilight sighed. "…I see…" A tear dripped from her eye.

"But hey, we can still be good friends, right?" He leant down and kissed her on the cheek. "You are one of the most resourceful friends I've ever had. I can't thank you enough for the help you've given me in the past few days." He spoke into her ear.

Twilight smiled sheepishly and mildly blushed. "…Thank you…" She said softly.

"Now, was that the reason you were trying to keep me?"

Twilight suddenly remembered the other reason why she was supposed to keep him there. "Yeah, that's all." She said. "You can go now, if you want."

"…Twilight, I don't want to-"

"Please go, I need some time to think." She said as she laid down on her bed.

"…" Josh sighed. He bought himself to his feet and showed himself out.

_**LATER THAT EVENING…**_

Twilight was contemplating what had happened that day. She did what Zhengyi asked, but not because he wanted her to. Because she wanted to. But she wasn't bothered about that right now. Her relationship was Josh took top priority. _'I hope we can still remain friends. Best friends. But what he said was just so true. So…logical.'_ She sighed. _'Logical, logical, it's always logical with him…I guess that's one of the things that I like about him…'_

She suddenly heard a knock at the door. Spike had gone to bed because he'd been busy working all day. Not only around the library, but helping Rarity. So she had to go and get the door herself. She kinda preferred it like that anyway.

She opened the door to see a cyan Pegasus. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Evening, Twilight." Rainbow dash replied as she flew inside. "I was moving a few clouds a few hours ago." She looked out the window. "I don't usually look through other ponies windows whilst I'm working. But I just happened to glace past yours earlier…"

Twilight's heart sank. "Rainbow Dash, it's not what you think. I came onto him."

Rainbow Dash turned quickly and aggressively to face her. "How the hay does he find you attract – wait, what did you say?"

"What? I came onto him?"

"…" Rainbow Dash suddenly burst out laughing. "Did you honestly think you had a chance with him!?"

Twilight blushed. "I…I like him. Okay? Is that what you wanted me to say?"

"Eh, I'm not bothered." Rainbow Dash replied. "But is that seriously your way of making a first kiss? That's pathetic! You would've been better off tickling his lips with a feather!"

"What's it to you anyway!?" Twilight replied in a raised tone.

"Nothin'…" Rainbow Dash replied, looking away as she did.

'…_Does she know something I don't? How do I get it out of her? She isn't exactly persuasive…what would Josh do…? With me, he played along until the end. But something tells me this isn't going to last as long as that. I need to do something now. I noticed he sometimes plays along with things that go along the most logical paths. Or, as he puts it, he usually replies with 'only 1 way to find out' or 'got any better ideas?' Perhaps I should try that here…'_

Twilight cleared her throat. "I think I know what it is." She replied in a more upbeat tone.

Rainbow Dash flicked her head round to look at hear. "What?" She snapped.

'_Gotcha. She's suddenly interested, that's the reaction I'm looking for. But now what do I say? Well, I guess I could go with the most logical…but it might hit a bad chord on Rainbow Dash's end…and it'll be a huge bluff…Josh doesn't bluff…'_

She cleared her throat. "You're jealous aren't you?" She said then assumed a sly look on her face.

"Ha! Jealous of what!?"

"You're hiding something from me, Rainbow Dash, and I know it."

"I'm not hiding anything…" She replied.

"I can tell from the way you're acting all defensive and the way you raise your voice. And as for jealous of what? Well, I can make some guesses from the facts you've given me. You're jealous because Josh was spending time with me instead of you."

"…Okay, so maybe I was a little bit... but I was working, so it didn't exactly affect me…"

"Not only that, but you're annoyed that I asked him first."

Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up. "But u-uhh, I-I-I, y-you got rejected. At least he actually asked me out!"

"Oh, so that was a date now, was it?" Twilight replied with a wink.

"Ugh, yes. – I mean no! I mean you're twisting my words!" Rainbow Dash looked away, blushing and slitting her eyes.

'_That's it. I got her. I better go easy on her though and not press her too hard…' _"So why did you come over here at this hour anyway."

"Because I uh, wanted to ask you about Josh. Because I never thought you'd fall in love with someone from a different species. Uh, which is not happening to me. And uh, I think there's more to this than what I saw."

'_You're not fooling anypony…you're right about that last sentence though…'_ "Rainbow Dash, I read a book earlier, and it said it was perfectly normal to feel something for someone with similar interests. It's one of the main drives that makes you fall in love. It's what happened to me…I just wish I knew more about boys. I might have been able to do something different that changed the outcome…"

"Uh, right, uh, thanks Twilight. G'night." Rainbow Dash flew out of the door, forgetting to close it behind her.

Twilight sighed. _'I hope you're prepared for the inevitable, Rainbow Dash…'_ She walked towards the door and closed it.

'_I think I'll go to bed early. I've got nothing better to do.' _Twilight headed off upstairs to get ready for bed.

* * *

_**And that concludes this chapter. I know there's gonna be a ton of mistakes, but like I said at the start, if they seem serious enough, I will correct them. :)**_

_**I'm gonna go work on my other story idea now. See you all soon. :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW :)**_


	8. False Accusations

_**Hey everypony! I was gonna get this chapter out sooner, but I fell ill as soon as I started working on it (I still am slightly ill now writing this). But I cut the chapter in half and typed as quickly as I could to get it out now. Also, I've got another story to work on, so I'm gonna try and do 1 chapter here and then 1 chapter on the other, working in that order.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_

* * *

It was around 10AM. The sun was shining nicely over Equestria. Josh was sitting in the living room having his breakfast and was watching some episodes of Star Trek to try and give himself some inspiration on how to proceed.

He looked at the Shuttle in his back garden through the windows. _'I think there's a certain someone who knows more about what's going on than me or anypony…and I bet he's the cause of all this too…'_

He shook his head. _'Nah, that's impossible! But then again, I'm not really sure about what is impossible anymore…'_

Suddenly, he heard a knock at his front door. _'That's either gotta be Twilight or Rainbow Dash. Or both.'_

He turned the TV off and headed for the door. To his surprise, there stood 2 Pegasus Royal Guards. "Mr. Valentine, you have been placed on suspicion of influencing the Equestrian ponies with your people's war-like and chaotic nature. You are to be taken into custody for a trial later today."

Josh's jaw dropped. "And what evidence do you have of this!? What the hell has that Zhengyi guy been spoon-feeding you!?"

"Sir, anything you say can and will be used against you. If you continue to resist, we will be required to respond with force."

"But…I'm 1 guy! What could I do against a whole army of ponies!?" He pointed at himself. "Do I really look or act hostile to you!?"

"Sir, this is you're final warning."

"…" Josh sighed. _'They're just messengers. They're opinions don't matter.'_ He held his hands up. "Allright, I'm coming. Can I grab a few things before I go?"

"As long as they aren't weapons, yes." The guard replied.

Josh nodded. He turned around and started heading back into his house. He only heard 1 of the ponies following him.

He quickly went upstairs and grabbed a belt to put around his black jeans. He looked at the guard. "If I'm gonna be appearing in court, shouldn't I get changed to something more suitable?"

The guard shook his head. "They'll be time for that. We only need to bring you in for questioning. Then whether you go or not will be decided shortly afterwards."

"Oh, okay then." Josh replied. He then went downstairs and out into the back garden. He then went inside the shuttle.

He switched it on, causing all the lights and panels to spark into life. "Systems online." Spoke the familiar robotic female voice.

Josh pulled back at one of the panels, revealing a drawer. Inside were neatly arranged rows of small rectangular devices. Josh picked one up and closed the door.

It immediately attracted the guard's attention.

"No, it's not a weapon." Josh said before the guard could say anything. He presented the device to him. "It's called a Tricorder. It's used to gather and store data. Just in case I have to do a bit of investigating."

The guard took it in his hooves and had a look at it. He then gave a nod of approval and handed it back to Josh. Josh holstered it on his belt and then went back inside. He couldn't think of anything else he would like to bring, so he just went to the front door. Sitting outside was a carriage.

"Please take a seat." The guard told him. The other had already taken up flying position in front of the carriage.

Josh went inside the carriage. It was quite a comfortable little thing actually. Not what he was expecting at all. It was lined with red upholstery.

The other guard went and attached himself to the carriage. They then both took flight in perfect harmony. There was a slight jolt as they started moving, but Josh was used to it, so it didn't come as a surprise.

The carriage flew through the air, gaining a pretty impressive altitude. It was actually a rather impressive view.

It didn't take very long for the carriage to arrive in Canterlot. It flew right past the city and straight to the Royal Palace. It landed on the roof, where Zhengyi was waiting for him.

Josh immediately got Zhengyi locked in his eyes. He hopped out of the carriage and approached him. "Allright, what's the big idea?" He demanded.

He smiled. "Why don't you tell me? You're the one on trial."

"Influencing other ponies? War-like and chaotic nature? Who do you think I am!?"

"We're about to find out. Please come for questioning."

"But where did you find evidence to prove-"

"I'm the one asking questions here, not you, Mr. Valentine!" Zhengyi snapped back.

Josh was taken into a small room where he was questioned. He was asked some really weird and bizarre questions. And the topics didn't seem to fit with each. They went from one thing to the next in the flick of a wrist. A good few hours later, they we're finished questioning, and Josh was released into some kind of cell. He was told he had to stay there whilst they finished all the paperwork.

There wasn't much to see. It had grey walls and a chair. He sat down in the chair. In front of him was a piece of glass with a small hole at the bottom of it to allow whoever was on the other side of it to talk to him. Or vice versa. There was a door on the other side with a guard standing next to it.

He sat there. Not knowing what to do. There was plenty he could do, but it wouldn't help his cause. Besides, he had nothing to really worry about anyway. All he had to do was tell the truth. Any 'evidence' Zhengyi thinks he found would be merely coincidental. Or a misunderstanding.

There was a knock at the door. The guard opened it and looked at whoever was standing at the other end. He then turned to Josh. "You have visitors." He said.

Josh brightened up a little. "Let them through." He replied.

The guard stepped out of the way and 5 ponies bounded through. "Oh my goodness! What happened Darling!?" Rarity exclaimed.

"It's nothing. Zhengyi is just way in over his head. He's accusing me of influencing other ponies with my 'war-like and chaotic nature'. But I'll be proving him wrong later. Where's Twilight?"

"Oh, as soon as she heard, she went looking for a Lawyer." Rainbow Dash replied.

"A Lawyer? She does know it's a lost cause right? No Defence attorney would take my case in a million years."

"Then what are you going to do?" Asked Fluttershy.

"Hell, I'm hoping I won't have to do anything. As soon as Zhengyi sees the facts, he should figure them all out for himself. Anyway, you don't have to stay here. You can go." Josh replied.

"No-can-do, Joshy! We're staying here to keep you entertained!" Pinkie Pie replied.

"I appreciate the gesture Pinkie Pie, but I really need to think this through myself. I would hate for you guys to get involved in my crap." Josh replied.

"Don't'cha worry 'bout a thin', Pard'ner! We've got ya back no matter whut!" Applejack replied.

"Thanks, AJ. Looks like I might need a bit of pony support. But be warned, Zhengyi might use you as arguing points."

"Well Twilight said she was gonna try and pull some of her Canterlot strings to get you a decent Lawyer. You'll be fine." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Still, I don't think she'll have any luck. Considering she's essentially asking them to fight against their own race."

"And what if she doesn't get a Lawyer?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Then…I guess I'll have to defend myself."

"And you won't be doing alone. I'll be right beside you!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Thanks, Skittles. But all I need you guys to do is give me some support. You're gonna be my evidence that other ponies can trust me."

"What times the trial scheduled for?" Asked Rarity.

"Later this afternoon. Around 3PM I was told."

"So you've gotta sit here until then?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well, until they release me, yes." Josh replied.

"But that could take forever. What are you gonna do until then?"

"First of all I need to try and find Twilight. She doesn't need to bother herself by running around Canterlot looking for a Lawyer at a lost cause. Nopony will accept my case with all the odds against me. And to be honest, I've got a much better understanding, so I'll probably be better off anyway."

And just as he finished his last sentence, a Guard walked through the door. "You are free to go under escort." He stated.

"Under escort? You mean like somepony to come with me so I stay out of trouble?"

"A precaution." He replied.

Josh sighed. "Okay. But I better get a free ride back to Ponyville."

"…" The Guard sighed. "Of course…"

"Good. For me and my friends." Josh added. "Anyway, we should probably go find Twilight. Let's go."

Twilight suddenly burst through the door. Spike on her back. "Josh! Oh my gosh! I tried to get you a Lawer, but all of the ones I knew refused once they heard about the gravity of the case! I guess I can help you by-"

"Twilight," Josh placed his index finger on her lips to slience her. "I'm allright. Thank you for trying. I knew they'd refuse. So that's why I have chosen to defend myself. However, I might need a Co-Council. Think you fit the bill?"

"I…of course!" She replied. "So where do we start?"

"Well, first things first." He looked over to Rarity. "Rarity. I can't go to court looking like this. I'll look so unprofessional. I need a suit."

Rarity's eyes lit up like an explosion. "Well, you definitely came to the right pony. I haven't had much experience with making clothes to fit your type of body, but I assure you-" She gasped. "I-DE-A!"

Josh looked over to the guard. "We can go now." He stated.

The guard nodded and started walking. "Follow me." He replied.

Whilst they were walking through the castle grounds, Rarity was blabbering on about some ideas for Josh's suit. Josh disapproved of most of them, but she was quite inspirational with some of the things she said.

They finally all clambered into one of the carriages pulled by the Pegasi Guards. Only 1 of them was pulling this time, so it might be a tad slower.

"And there we go. That is just PERFECT Josh dear." Rarity pronounced after finishing her list of things to add on Josh's suit.

"Uhh…that's really impressive, Rarity. That sounds like a really good suit. But I don't think it's really suitable for the occasion. I'm trying to be a Defence Attorney, not a Prom King."

"Oh…what didn't you like?"

"Well…let's start by taking away some of those jewels. Whilst they are very pretty, they look a bit too flashy for a Lawyer."

"Flashy? I suppose I do understand what you mean. But how would you do it?"

"Well…I've got a few ideas in mind. I'll show you when we get back to your shop." Josh looked ahead at the Pegasus pulling them. "Hey Taxi! Take us to Carousel Boutique. It's in Ponyville. Take a guess what it looks like."

The Pegasus didn't reply, but Josh was more than confident he heard.

After a bit of flying, the carriage touched down just outside of Carousel Boutique. Everyone disembarked. Twilight and Josh remained at Carousel Boutique, whilst the others went off. The Guard unhooked himself and then followed them in. He was under orders to not let Josh out of his sight.

"So, what did you have in mind, Josh?" Asked Rarity.

"Well, I wanted to get a blue suit. Like a dark blue. Along with a white shirt and a red tie. Any shade of red, but not too light."

"…That's it?" Rarity replied.

"Well, apart from shoes. But if you don't make those that's fine."

"No, I mean…that's it?"

"Well…what would you have in mind? Remember I want to keep it simple. Nothing too flashy."

"Hmmm…" Rarity raised an eyebrow. She then used her magic to fly a pair of glasses over to her, and placed them neatly upon her muzzle.

"How about a waistcoat?"

"A waistcoat? As in just a waistcoat or under the suit?"

"Under the suit. Suit worn unbuttoned." She replied.

"Hmm…what colour?"

"I was thinking white. It really brings out the tie and the suit more. Not to mention it makes your eyes sparkle."

"Hehe, allright, you're the expert."

"That I am, Darling." She replied as she grabbed a tape measure. "I can see you now." She stared measuring along Josh's body.

"You've ran out of leads." She picked up a notepad and inked a quill to write with. "All the evidence has been closed." She moved the tape measures around. "You have nowhere to go."

She finished taking measurements and went and pinned the paper up on a pinboard along with loads of her other projects. "The judge is about to hand down the guilty verdict."

She picked some of the fabrics off her shelves with her magic and placed them on her desk. Next to the sewing machine and a few papers. "Then out of nowhere, you slam your hand down on the desk!"

She smacked the desk with her left hoof and flung her right hoof out. "OBJECTION!" As she did, she knocked off some of the papers. "Oh my-" She sighed and facehoofed. "I think I got a bit too carried away there…"

"No you didn't. Some would call that getting carried away. I call it enthusiasm." Josh replied. "Let me help you pick those up." Josh came over and helped pick up the papers. He noticed a few with Celestia's name written on them. "You're designing something for Celestia?"

"Oh, that? Just something I was working on as a gift for her birthday."

"Oh right. It…doesn't seem all that…difficult…"

"That's because I was designing this for a different purpose." Rarity replied as she took up position on the sewing machine. "I wanted to make her something that she could wear every day. I'm sure she's got a large wardrobe, but I don't think she's got something you can just 'throw on' so to speak."

"Ah, I get it. I think she'll love it."

"I should hope so. I had to really think 'outside the box' on that one."

"I'm sure you did. From what I've seen, it's not something you'd usually make. So, how long do you think it'll take you to finish mine?"

"Well, it's actually a lot simpler than I first thought!" She replied. "I should be finished soon. There is something though. First of all, forgive me for looking, but I couldn't help but notice you have a metal device down the middle of your trousers."

"…Oh right. The fly. What about it?"

"I don't think I would be able to make one of those. Would you prefer I leave them out, or come up with an alternative?"

"Errr…could you use buttons?"

"Buttons? Hmm….yes, I suppose I could. What kind of buttons? Poppers or-"

"Normal please."

"Right. I can do that for you no problem."

"Thank you, Rarity. I mean doing all this for free. It's way more than I could've ever asked for.

"Oh not a problem darling! It's given me a perfect opportunity to experiment."

Over the course of the production, Josh barely needed to give any input at all. Rarity seemed to have it all under control. However, the Guard watching the 2 of them was kinda off-putting. But Josh chose to say nothing, seeing how it would just increase the anxiety.

The suit was finished within the hour. "And there you go. All finished." Rarity announced.

"It looks great. Can I try it on?"

"Of course! There's a room just through that door. You can go and try it on in there.

"Thank you." Josh replied as he picked up the clothes.

He walked into the room and went to close the door behind him, but the Guard followed him in. "Do you mind? I'm getting changed."

"I'm under orders not to let you out of my sight." He replied.

"…Fine." _'I'm not gonna be completely naked anyway…'_

Josh took his clothes off and then put on the suit. He then looked in the mirror. "Rarity's done a pretty good job, huh?" Josh said. He was kinda speaking to the Guard and to himself at the same time.

The Guard didn't respond. Josh looked over his shoulder at him. "C'mon, you're allowed to have an opinion aswell."

"…It looks…suitable." He replied.

"That's it?" Josh walked over to him. "C'mon, lighten up a bit, buddy." Josh patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't touch me." The Guard said sternly.

"Okay, geez." Josh walked out the door and towards Rarity. "I love it, Rarity! You've done a fantastic job!"

"Why thank you, Darling. I do try my best."

"It shows. What do you think?"

"I think you look wonderful in it. All you need to do now is steal the show in court later."

"That I will. And effortlessly at that. Now, let's gather Twilight and the others. It's showtime!"

* * *

_**Like I said, I halved this chapter to get it out quicker. Just as reassurance that more is on the way soon. Once I start feeling better, I'll be able to start getting back up to full speed. :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW :)**_


	9. False Accusations PART 2

_**Well hey everypony…**_

…

…

…_**Not much to say here. For once. Apart from the usual.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_

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Up in the Canterlot Palace, the courtroom was brimming with activity. The stands were full of ponies, all chatting amongst themselves. At the end of the room sat the Judge. A Unicorn with dark grey fur and a lighter shade of grey mane. To the left of him sat Princess Celestia. She didn't really make much input during trials, but she did help pass a judgement.

There was a clearing in the middle of the hall with a desk at either side. At the desk on the left, Josh and Twilight resided. Twilight stood in her seat whilst Josh was standing, leaning with his right hand flat on the desk and his left hand on his hip.

At the other end sat Zhengyi and his Co-Council sat. They were talking amongst themselves. They seemed to be having quite a lot to talk about as well.

Using his magic, Judge banged his gavel 3 times, causing the court to silence and everyone's attention to be drawn to him. "Court is now is session for the trial of Josh Valentine." He stated in a deep voice.

"The Prosecution is ready, Your Honour." Zhengyi said.

"The Defence is ready, Your Honour." Josh said.

"Very well. Mr. Zhengyi, it is my understanding that you wish to also be judging the rest of Mr. Valentine's species within this trial?"

"Yes, Your Honour. I have evidence that proves that these humans are violent, war-like, and chaotic. May I make my opening statement?"

"Yes, you may."

"Good." Zhengyi stood up and cleared his throat. "During an investigation of the defendant's house, we uncovered evidence that he was hiding the real truth of what's going on."

"HOLD IT!" Josh held his right arm out as far as it would go with his index finger pointed at Zhengyi. "When was this investigation carried out? And was it approved? If there is no seal of approval, I consider that an illegal investigation."

"Ha! Don't you think I would've thought about that before I did it? Here's your seal of approval." Zhengyi presented a piece of paper with his magic. "This investigation was approved by Captain Shining Armour. There's no doubt that this was in any way an illegal investigation."

"The court accepts this as evidence." The Judge declared. The piece of paper then flew into a desk in the middle of the court.

"Keep a note of the evidence, Twilight. It may come in handy later." Josh said quietly to her.

"Right." Twilight replied.

"During the investigation, we uncovered evidence that proves there is an almost certain chance that you will try to do something bad."

"Well, would you care to share this evidence with us?" The Judge asked.

"Gladly." Zhengyi replied. "We recovered a ton of evidence, but this should be more than enough." He then presented a big book.

"…World History…" The Judge read off the front cover.

"That's correct. It dates the most significant events in history along with details."

"That's an awfully big book you've got there, Mr. Zhengyi. Could you please show us the parts with the conclusive evidence?"

"Certainly." Zhengyi replied. Using his magic, he flipped through the pages. "There's the proof." He stopped on a page. "This section talks about something called a 'World War'. They had 2 of them. If their whole world got involved in 1 massive conflict, then I see no doubt for the misinterpretation of the facts."

"OBJECTION!" Josh shouted and pointed his finger. "You can't judge me for things that happened before I was born! The First World War happened 80 years before I was born. The second 50."

"OBJECTION!" Zhengyi shouted. Then he shrugged. "I think you're missing the point, Mr. Valentine. The fact is that these instincts are passed down through generations." Zhengyi said with a devilish smile on his face.

"Oh really?" Josh smiled and crossed his arms. "Then show me proof that there's gonna be another big conflict in the future."

"Hm. Glad you asked that. Because I do have proof."

'_WHAT!? NO WAY!'_

"We took a look in that spaceship of yours in your back garden, Mr. Valentine. It appeared to be quite heavily armed, which indicates the presence of war. Now, how many years in front of you was that? 200? 300? 400?"

"OBJECTION!" Josh shouted as he stepped out of chair and flung his finger out. "That's from an alternate reality! And for those of you who don't understand, it means like a different timeline completely separate from my world."

Zhengyi's jaw dropped. "W-what!? No! Impossible!"

Josh crossed his arms and smiled. "Actually it's not. That wormhole that I'm sure you saw allows me to travel between loads of different worlds. And that ship had barely any armaments at all compared to other ships from that universe. They're just there because space is very hostile. Someone or something could try to kill you there at any moment. Those weapons are purely for self defence."

"Hmm…did I just hear you say that space is very hostile?"

Josh raised an eyebrow. "What? Yeah you did."

"So now you're dragging other species into your conflicts? I think this only provides more evidence towards your influence of other-"

"OBJECTION!" Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "Now you're trying to pin other species problems on me? I don't think we have anything to do with that!"

"The Defence is right. Objection sustained!" The Judge added and banged his gavel.

"You've got him, Josh! You've overruled everything he's accused you of!" Twilight said to Josh.

"Everything so far. I don't think we're done yet." Josh replied.

"You've got all the momentum on our side. If you can make 1 final bold statement, that might be enough."

"Good idea, Twi."

Josh cleared his throat. "Your Honour, the Defence would like to make a statement."

"Very well. Let's hear it." The Judge replied.

Josh cleared his throat. "As you can see, I have explained everything. And if I was anything like the Prosecution claims, I would've started an attack way earlier. Also, to those of you who have known me. Do you think I would really murder someone? Now, 99 percent of the time, people, or in your case, ponies, misinterpret that question as 'do you think I am capable of murder?' I'm not asking you whether or not I am capable, I'm asking you if I would. Everyone is a unique individual. You can't judge one person just by looking at another.

I rest my case."

Discussions started kicking off in the jury.

The Judge banged his gavel 3 times. "Order! Order!" He said. Everyone looked at him. "I think we've heard enough. I see no room for any misinterpretation of the facts. Therefore, I can safely hand down my verdict. Does the Prosecution have any objections?"

Zhengyi thought for a minute. Then a devilish grin crawled across his face. "No, Your Honour."

The Judge looked up at Princess Celestia. "Are you satisfied, Princess?"

"Hmm…yes, I believe I am."

"In that case, I find the defendant, Josh Valentine, not guilty!" He declared then banged his gavel.

"You did it Josh!" Twilight said. But Josh was too busy looking at Zhengyi. Even though he just lost, he had a huge grin across his face. He looked too happy.

"That is all! Court is adjourned!" The Judge said and banged his gavel.

Josh and Twilight made their way back to the Defendant's Lobby. "Great going in there, Josh! You won easily."

"Too easily." Josh replied.

"Huh?"

"For someone who just lost, Zhengyi seemed very happy. In fact, I'd say he was over the moon. I think there's more going on here than we realise…"

Suddenly, loads of Josh's friends burst through the door. "You did it, Josh! You showed 'em who's boss! Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Yeah. Thank, Skittles."

"Great job, Josh!" Josh suddenly heard in a familiar voice.

He turned to see Shining Armour standing beside him. "You were great in there! You had something for everything Zhengyi threw at you! I've never seen him so gobsmacked in all the time I've known him."

"Thank you, Shining. Although there is 1 thing that's still bothering me. Why did you approve of that investigation?"

"Oh, that? Uhh…" He sighed. "I thought this would be a good chance to get demoted and off my team if he messed this up. I'm sorry. I should've said something."

"No apology needed, Captain. In fact, without this, I don't think his true motives would've been revealed."

Shining Armour raised an eyebrow. "True motives?"

"He seemed very happy when he lost. I get the sense there's more to this than meets the eye…"

"But what?"

"I don't know. But I get the feeling that he set me up so I deliberately won the trial. I can count at least 2 occasions back there where he could've easily got some of the things I said overruled."

"Hmm…well, I've got no idea what he might be planning. But after that loss in court today, I fail to see how he could recover from that."

"As do I. So I believe that we have nothing to fear." Josh replied with a smile. "Now, I think it's time to head back to Ponyville."

"Actually I arranged for us to stay at the castle tonight." Twilight replied.

"What? Why?"

"Uh. It was on Rainbow Dash's request…" Twilight replied.

"Yeah, 'cause there's gonna be a Wonderbolts Derby here tomorrow, and I wanna be around to see it! Tell me you're gonna come too Josh!"

"Uhh, sure, I guess…"

"It's gonna be sooo awesome!..."

"Yes, I'm sure it will. Let's go grab some lunch, shall we? I'm famished."

_**LATER THAT EVENING**_

It was pitch black and there was not a sound to be heard. Josh was struggling to get to sleep. He couldn't get Zhengyi and why he let him win the trial out of his mind. It just doesn't make sense. The only logical explanation was that Zhengyi had another intention in mind. Either that or he literally just came to his senses at the moment in the trial, and realised that it was all just superstition.

Josh heard the door open slightly. He looked up and saw a purple light illuminating from the doorway. He sat up in his bed and squinted his eyes, covering them slighty with his hand due to the intensity of the light.

"Josh? Are you awake?" He heard Twilight's voice ask.

"I am now…" Josh replied. "What's the problem?"

"Spike literally just got this letter now. I was gonna leave it until tomorrow, but it has your name on it. I thought it might be important."

"Oh. Thanks, Twilight. Hand it over, I'll read it in the morning."

Twilight flew it over to him and Josh plucked it out of the air. "Thank you. Goodnight, Twilight." He placed the note on a nightstand next to him and then laid back down.

"Goodnight." Twilight replied and headed out the door.

Josh laid still for about 20 seconds, but then curiosity got the better of him. He sat up and grabbed the letter. He then grabbed his Tricorder. He used it to produce a small artificial light source so he could read the letter.

He unrolled it and started reading it in his head.

'_Josh Valentine_

_I am writing to apologise on my actions towards you these past few days. I know you probably hate my guts for making you look like some sort of terroristic manic. I feel terrible, I really do. However, there is still a piece of evidence that I didn't present in court today that I still find slightly controversial. I would like to discuss it with you. Please come to the Investigation Office at 1:30 PM tomorrow. You may also bring your Co-Council (Twilight Sparkle was it?) if you feel that is necessary._

_My regards and apologies,_

_Zhengyi'_

Josh rolled it up again and put it on the nightstand. He turned off the light and put that on the nightstand also. He then laid back down. _'Strange. I wonder what evidence he's talking about…'_

**THE NEXT DAY**

**1:15 PM**

"Whaddya mean 'I've gotta sort something out first'!?" Rainbow Dash demanded. "The show starts at 2 O'clock. We've gotta go now to get the best seats!"

"45 minutes is an awfully big time frame, Rainbow. I'm sure they'll be plenty of seats."

"Yeah, but they won't be front row! And what about the time for getting snacks and merchandise!?"

"Allright, allright, you go and save us some seats. Me and Twilight just have to go do this thing real quickly. We'll be with you as soon as we can."

Rainbow Dash sighed annoyed. "Just be quick." She replied.

Josh and Twilight headed off. "Now, let's find Zhengyi and see what he wants."

"Didn't he say he had some evidence he wanted you to help him identify?"

"Yes. I'm not sure what it is though. This could be a trick…"

"I doubt it. He lost the trial. If he made anymore ludicrous claims without evidence to back it up, he'd be held in contempt of court."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right…"

Josh made his way through the Castle, asking some of the Guards for directions as he passed through. Eventually, he came to a separate building within the Castle walls on the ground floor. "That must be it." Josh said. It looked very dull, like it wanted to be ignored.

There was 2 sets of stairs either side leading into a dip that lead to the door. A Pony walked out of the door and walked straight past Josh. As they walked down the steps, Josh noticed the sign on the door that read 'Authorised ponyel only'.

"Can we just go in?" Asked Twilight.

"Let's know first, shall we?" Josh replied.

Josh knocked 5 times with his right fist and then he bought his head to the door. He heard lots of voices, but the only word he could make out was "positions" and he didn't even know whose voice it was.

"Come in!" He heard Zhengyi's voice say.

Josh pushed the door open and followed it in. He only got a view of the room for a split second before there was a sudden burst of light. He tried to react, but he couldn't. His muscles wouldn't respond. Then everything started to fade…

* * *

_**And that brings us to the close of another chapter. What happens next? Well, you'll just have to wait to find out won't you?**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_


	10. It's all over

_**Why hey everypony. Back for more? Good. This chapter is another 2 part chapter.**_

_**Also, I believe I stated at the beginning of this story that this story may be moved up to M for future chapters. How would you guys feel about me writing clop? Please don't judge me based off the clop/lemons/sex scenes I wrote in the past. That was almost 2 years ago, back when I was inexperienced with sex scenes. And FanFicition for that matter!**_

_**So anyway, yeah, give me your thoughts. It may or may not affect the story, depending on the majority. :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_

* * *

Josh slowly began to open his eyes. The light wasn't very bright, but it was still enough to illuminate the room. He groaned as he sat up. His vision was ever so slightly blurred, but not enough to really make that much of a difference.

"Ugh. What happened?" He rubbed his eyes. He heard groans next to him.

He looked to his left to see Twilight lying next to him. "Twilight? Are you okay?"

She groaned as she sat up. "I think so…what happened?"

"I don't know. But my head kills." He went to rub the back of his head, but he immediately winced in pain as his fingertips came into contact. "Yeow! What did I do!?" He hissed.

Twilight looked at the back of his head. "There's a lump on the back of your head. It's got quite a large radius, but it's not that big, so it's barely visible. It looks like it's been bleeding a bit."

"But why? I must've got hit in the head…"

He looked around. He was in the same place he was held when he was questioned. "Hey. Where are we? What gives?"

"Oh, awake are you?" An all too familiar voice said.

A figure appeared in the window that segmented them off. It was Zhengyi. "You've been arrested under suspicion of murder."

Josh's jaw dropped, but not nearly as much as Twilight's. "What? I don't remember…"

"Oh, you don't? Not the shooting and the stabbing?"

"I don't remember!"

"Hmm, strange. Something like that would usually sit in a sane guy's mind for a while…"

'_You better watch those insults, Buddy!'_ "But why is Twilight with me?"

"We were using magic to experiment around with some of the evidence. Unfortunately, the beam backfired and hit her, knocking her out cold. We decided to keep her detained with you as a precautionary measure."

"Right. You can let her go then?"

"Hmm…I suppose…"

"But Zhengyi, neither of us can remember what happened. First of all, surely that can't be a coincidence, and second of all, I don't remember a thing. Please, explain to me what I did and how it happened?"

"Hm. Coincidence you say? I think not. Somepony hit you on the back of the head to knock you out, but unfortunately it was too late. The deed was done. And Twilight was hit by a magic blast, also knocking her out. That also explains why you 2 are experiencing memory loss."

"Okay. But can you tell me what you saw?"

"I was in the bathroom when the incident started. I only got out in time to witness you get knocked out."

'_Oh, what a surprise. In other words, you're ruling yourself out of the suspects list, coward!'_ "Okay, don't I have the right to a trial?"

"Funnily enough, yes. It's scheduled for tomorrow at 9:30 AM. The current time is 6:30 PM, it's the 19th."

"The 19th? So we're still on the same day?"

"Correct. You didn't miss much."

"Right. Can you let Twilight go now?"

Twilight looked at Josh. "I don't wanna leave you."

"I'll be fine, Twilight. You're much more of a help outside of this room." He looked back at Zhengyi. "Well?"

"Hmm…yes, I can arrange it…"

"Good." He looked at Twilight. "Just do me a favour?"

"What?"

Josh started to take his suit off. "Get these washed." They weren't that dirty, but they could still use a wash considering he'd been wearing them for just under a day. He handed her his suit, waistcoat, and tie. He kept the shirt on because he still needed something to wear. "Also, if you want to help me even more, try and do some investigating. Try and find out what happened."

"I will. Don't worry. You can count on me."

"I hope so. Looks like I won't be going anywhere until the trial tomorrow."

Twilight nodded as she heard a lock turn. She turned her head and saw a door open. "Well. I don't have all day." Zhengyi said.

Twilight rose to her hooves, picked up Josh's clothes with her magic, placed them on her back, and walked out of the door. She was about to start heading for the exit, but she wanted to talk to the Princess first. The least she could do was put in a good word for Josh.

She walked up to the Princess's suite. She used her position as her personal student to get in.

She saw Princess Celestia writing something in her suite. She noticed her walk through the door and turned her head to look at her.

"Princess, I just wanted to talk to you about Josh." Twilight said as she approached her.

Princess Celestia didn't reply. She simply flew an envelope towards Twilight using her magic. Twilight picked it up when it reached her. "What's this?"

"Josh Valentine's bailout money. It won't get him off the suspects list, but it will get him out of jail. There's also a little bit of writing in there from me. If they still refuse to let him go after you've given them the money, show them that."

"It feels kinda heavy. How many bits are there in there?"

"I'd…rather not say…" She replied. "Twilight, I understand you we're also at the scene of the crime, am I correct?"

"What? Y-yes…"

"I see…what happened?"

"Well…I can't really say. There was this big flash of light that knocked me out. Apparently it only knocked me out because the magic blast was pointed in my direction."

"…So you don't really know what happened?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Hmmm…do you truly believe that Josh is innocent?"

"What? Yes of course, he wouldn't hurt anypony unless they hurt him first!"

"Then if you can trust him, I can trust him too, Twilight. But unfortunately, I am not allowed to judge this trial, because the ESV feels my judgement may be biased."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "The ESV?"

"The Equestrian Subjects Voice. They represent the best interests of my subjects."

"Oh right. Then I better hope Josh can put up a good fight."

"As do I. Anyway, take the money and he should be released. There's little else I can do. From here on out, the fight is your own."

"I understand, Princess. I actually came up here to try and reinforce your trust in him. But it seems I don't need to do that."

She smiled and nodded her head in response. "Very well. Good luck, my faithful student."

Twilight then left to return to Josh. _'Right. Now I can get him out and give him his clothes back. I wonder where he'll go first…'_

**\/\/\/\/**

* * *

Josh sat on the ground slumped back against the wall, running his fingers along the ground and picking up particles of dust on his fingertips.

Suddenly, a pony came through the door. "You're bail has been paid and approved by Princess Celestia. You're free to go."

"Huh?" Josh bought himself to his feet. As he was escorted out of the cell, the first thing he saw was Twilight. "Twilight? How did you-"

"Princess Celestia has placed her trust in you, Josh. She believes you didn't do it. She got you out, but from this point on, we're on our own."

"Oh. I see."

"So…do you wanna take your clothes back?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." Josh pulled the clothes off her back and started putting them back on. As he was putting them back on, he was approached by a guard carrying a tray using his magic. "This was the only item found on you at the time of your arrest."

It was his Tricorder. Josh picked it up and holstered it on his belt. "Thanks." He said to the guard. The guard didn't respond to his words and simply walked off.

"Uhh…right. First things first, let's go get what we need. We'll probably need a few sheets of paper and something to write with. Have you got those?"

"Easily." Twilight replied. "I've got some up in my room at the Castle, c'mon." Before Josh could reply, she started heading off in that general direction. Josh had no choice but to follow her.

"What next?" She asked eagerly.

"Well, after that, we'll have to go check out the scene of the crime. Providing they haven't sealed the whole place off, which is almost certain. But there might be somepony we can talk to."

"Right. What if there isn't?"

"Then…I guess we'll either have to do some sneaking or wait until the trial."

"And if we can't do any sneaking?"

"Then I guess it would be nice to go talk to the others to put their minds at ease. And also I probably need to apologise to Rainbow Dash for missing the Wonderbolt's Derby…"

"I'm sure she'll understand."

"As am I. But I still should probably apologise."

As soon as they reached Twilight's room, Twilight immediately grabbed a quill, some extra ink, and as many pieces of paper as she could fit into her bags. She grabbed a few extra things and then they headed down to the scene of the crime.

It was pretty much boarded off, ponies everywhere looking over everything. They managed to get as far as the door before somepony stepped in their way.

"Nopony apart from investigators allowed." He said in the stern voice.

He sounded so depressed that Josh was tempted to ask him 'had a bad day?' but he thought better of it. "We are the chief investigators for the Defence's side. Can we at least have a visual look around?"

"No."

"Not even just a peak?"

"No."

"Can you at least give us any information?"

"No."

"What about any other suspects?"

"No."

'_This guy has a very extensive range of vocabulary…'_ "Okay…can you tell me about the victim?"

"You should know. You killed her." He replied.

'_Great, somepony else who Zhengyi has been feeding false information to.'_ "I didn't kill her. And I intend to prove it. Now can you please tell me about her? What was her name?"

"…The victim's name was Eagle Eye."

"I see. And what is your position here?"

"…I am the chief investigator. Stone Turn."

"Okay, Stone Turn. Is there any chance of an Autopsy Report?"

"No."

'_I take it he likes simple answers. I think simple questions are provoking these simple answers. Perhaps I should try wording my questions a different way.'_ "Has the Autopsy Report being completed yet? If so, can you tell me the cause of death?"

"Cause of death was 2 projectile wounds and 1 stab wound."

'_Projectile wounds? Hmm…where would somepony get projectile weapons from?"_ He looked over at Twilight. "Write that down please, Twilight." He asked.

Twilight nodded and wrote it down on a piece of paper with her magic.

"What was the time of death?"

"Around 1:25 PM."

'_It was 1:15 when we left to walk down to here, and that was about a 10 minute journey. That lines up with the time we arrived…'_ "Very well. That will be all. Oh, but there is 1 more favour I'd like to request of you, Mr. Turn."

"What's that?"

"Could you tell me about the witnesses?"

"I am not allowed to reveal any personal information about the witnesses, but I can tell you that there were 5 ponies that were inside the building during the incident, including the Prosecutor."

"Okay," Josh pulled a piece of paper out of Twilight's bag and borrowed her quill. "Do you think you could draw a rough plan of the building along with the location of the witnesses?"

"I…uhh…I don't think I can…"

"Your drawing skills don't matter; I just want it very rough."

"No, not that…it's just…I don't think I'm allowed…"

"Allright then. I'll ask you again." Josh reached into Twilight's bag, rummaged around with his fingers until he felt something metal then pulled out about half a handful of bits.

"Hey!"

"Can you draw me an UNOFFICIAL plan of the building?" He asked, offering the bits to him.

"Uhh…okay…" The Investigator took the bits in his hoof and put them in his coat pocket. He then picked up the quill and paper using magic and began to sketch. After a minute or 2, he handed it back. Josh took a look at the sketch. It was pretty basic, but good enough for what he wanted it for. It was a square shaped building, 1 floor, pretty wide planned. There were work spaces spread out around the edge of the building, along with 1 area sticking out from the middle-back of the room. It stood perfectly in line with the door. He had also drawn small circles around the map to show where the witnesses were standing and put their initials inside the circles. Obviously Josh didn't know who they were just from their initials, so that would have to wait.

'_Whatever they were experimenting on to make that magic burst hit me and Twilight must've been on that table. That's why it was directed at us.'_

"Okay, thank you. You've been a big help."

"Sure, sure. Just remember, we never met."

"Of course." Josh replied with a smile. He turned to walk off. Twilight followed him.

"Next time you're gonna bribe somepony, please tell me before you take my bits." Twilight said, slightly annoyed.

"Okay, sorry. It was just kinda moving too quickly to ask before I took."

Twilight sighed. "Of course…"

"Where do you think Rainbow Dash would be?"

"Probably back in her room."

"Okay, I'm gonna go look for her to apologise."

"Right. I'll go fill the others in on the situation before they get the wrong idea."

"10-4, good idea." Josh replied. "Oh, and if you see Rarity, ask her to get me a hair band. I suppose they'd call them mane bands here. And while you're at it, can you get me some painkillers for my head?"

"Uh, sure. I'll ask Rarity next time I see her. And I know a spell that can temporarily cut off nerves if you want a painkiller."

"Uhh…I'll pass, thanks. Whilst that would be an effective painkiller, it would impair the time taken to heal."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right…"

They eventually went their separate ways. Josh arrived at Rainbow Dash's door. He knocked on in. "Hey Skittles, you in there? It's me, Josh." Not that he needed to say that. He was the only one who called her Skittles, so it wasn't difficult to deduct.

"Uhh…come in…" She sounded really bummed out.

Josh opened the door and walked through. Rainbow Dash was lying on her bed, facing away from Josh.

He sighed. "Listen. Skittles…" He perched himself on the edge of her bed. "I'm really sorry I missed the Wonderbolt's show. I didn't mean to, but I've just got caught up in so much crap. I've been accused of murder."

She rolled over to face Josh. "I didn't go to the Wonderbolt's show…" She said softly.

"Wh-what?"

"I was waiting for you…but you never turned up…"

"Oh geez, Dash, I didn't know. I've been out cold for a few hours. Hence this." He flicked his head to the side to show her the big bump on the back of his head. His long hair covered it pretty well anyway. "Skittles, I promise I will make it up to you. Once this is over, I WILL make it up to you."

"Don't worry too much about it. There was nothing you could've done." She replied.

"Well…you're right about that." Josh replied. "I just hope that there are some decisive witnesses."

"Well… I was there. I followed you down, but I only watched from afar. I couldn't see much, so I just waited. Obviously you didn't turn up, so I went back to my room to wait for you."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Okay…" _'My memory ends just as I opened the door. That means I probably didn't close the door. With the door wide open, she should've seen something…'_

Suddenly, his stomach let off an ear-piercing growl. "Hehe, I haven't eaten anything for a while. You wanna go find the others and grab a bite to eat?"

"Uh, sure, I guess…"

They walked out of the room to find the others and then something to eat. Once they rounded up everyone, Rarity showed them to one of her favourite restaurants.

"Oh, Rarity, did you find a hair - Uh, mane band?" Josh asked as they were waiting for their food.

"Um, yes, I did." She got it out of her bag and flew it over to him using magic. "I'm sorry if you don't like it, but it was on quite short notice. I thought red would be a suitable colour for you, but now I'm not so sure. What do you think."

Josh plucked it out of the air. He looked at it them smiled. He looked over a Rarity. "It's perfect." He replied.

He then ran his hands through his hair and tied it back in a ponytail, starting at the base of his neck. "Right. Tomorrow, I've got a trial to win."

* * *

_**THE NEXT DAY**_

The Judge banged his gavel, drawing all the attention to him. "Court is now in session for the trial of Josh Valentine."

"The Prosecution is ready, Your Honour." Zhengyi said on 1 side of the room.

"The Defence is ready, Your Honour." Josh said on the other.

"Mr. Zhengyi, I am very confused. I thought we cleared Josh Valentine's name yesterday? Please give me your opening statement to shed some light on this situation."

"Hm. It seems we were all deceived, Your Honour." Zhengyi replied. "On the 19th of August, around 1:25 PM, Josh Valentine murdered a Unicorn. The Unicorn was one of my assistants in the initial investigation. Eagle Eye. Cause of death was 2 projectile wounds and 1 stab wound as detailed in this Autopsy Report."

Zhengyi presented a pretty thick envelope. "The court accepts this as evidence." The Judge declared.

"Hold that thought, Your Honour." Zhengyi replied as he placed it on the evidence table. "I also have more evidence. The murder weapons."

Zhengyi then revealed the items in question. They were held in clear wallets. A smallish knife and a handgun. _'My Grandfathers when he was in service…' _Josh thought.

"This knife bears the blood of the victim. Also, there are patterns on it that shape fingers. Therefore, we can conclude that Josh Valentine was the only 1 who could've wielded this, seeing as he is the only 1 with fingers on the suspects this. This other weapon also bears the same prints. It is certain that the Defendant was the one who wielded them."

"Hm. The Prosecution's logic is very sound. Mr. Valentine?"

"Those fingerprints you said you found, how do you know they weren't placed there prior to the crime?" Josh asked.

"Are you saying you had them in your possession earlier?" Zhengyi asked.

"No, what I'm saying is that fingerprints are very had to get rid of, and those weapons are over 60 years old. They could be anyone's fingerprints. They were my Grandfathers when he was fighting during World War 2, which we covered in the previous trial, so they're probably his."

"Hm. So you're saying that these weren't the murder weapons then, Mr. Valentine?" Asked Zhengyi.

"No, I'm just stating that there are other possibilities. For example, a Pegasus or Earth Pony would have difficulty properly operating the gun with hooves, seeing how the hole for the trigger is very small. But a Unicorn could use magic to operate it. Therefore, that makes all Unicorns present at the scene of the crime a possible suspect. How many Unicorns were there at the scene of the crime including you, Zhengyi?"

"…There were…4…Unicorns…including me…and the victim…"

"Then that makes all 3 of you suspects."

"OBJECTION! Weren't you listening to what I told you earlier, Valentine!? I was in the bathroom as the incident was happening, completely ruling me out of the crime. At best, there are 2 possible suspects, but I intend to rule them out with evidence presented in today's session."

'_Actually, when I said anyone who isn't a Unicorn couldn't operate it, I didn't say it was impossible, it just said it would be very very difficult.'_ Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "I'd still like to ask another question."

"Hm. Fine then. Ask away, Mr. Valentine."

"Motive." He said simply. "What possible motive could I have to kill somepony I've never even met?"

"Hm? Oh, that one's easy! Earlier that evening, the evening before the crime, Eagle Eye contacted me about some controversial evidence she claimed to have found against your name. Unfortunately, with her death, that information died with her. You killed her to keep that information secret."

"OBJECTION! How could I have possibly known that!? Unless you honestly believe that I somehow knew? This was top secret, right? How would I know?"

"Hm. Well then, do you have a better motive?"

"It's simple; there wasn't one!"

"OBJECTION! This is a Court of Law! We can't just simply take no for an answer!"

"The Prosecution is right; this sounds like too much of an important detail. Objection overruled!" The Judge said then banged his gavel.

'_Ugh! Looks like I lost that battle…'_ Josh slammed his hands on his desk. "I still think an eyewitness account is in order."

"Hm. Very well. The Prosecution would like to call its first witness. Slip Slide."

At the announcement of his name, the said pony made his way to a stand in the middle of the room. "Witness, please state your name and occupation." Zhengyi demanded.

"I'm Lieutenant Slip Slide. Canterlot Royal Guard." He stated.

"You were at the scene of the crime, were you not? I don't even need to confirm that, I saw you."

"Yes Sir, I was."

"Please, testify to us about what you saw."

Slip Slide inhaled deeply and then cleared his throat.

"Take a record of his testimony. Edit it accordingly with contradictions and such as we progress." Josh said to Twilight.

"Sure." Twilight replied as she got a quill at the ready.

"I had just come back from my lunch break. It was about 1:20. I went back to the evidence room to start organising some papers Commander Zhengyi asked me to organise. I had overheard something about Josh Valentine's arrival earlier, so I was expecting him. However, I was too busy concentrating on the task at hoof to worry too much about him. When I heard him come in, there was a sudden burst of very bright light that engulfed the whole room. I also heard a bang at the same time the light went off. I turned around to try and see what was going on, but the light was blinding. I couldn't make anything out, but shortly after, I heard a 2nd bang. Then the light disappeared, and he and Twilight were out cold on the floor. After that I got back to my work."

"…Hmm…that is a very concise testimony."

"Airtight. Naturally." Zhengyi chirped.

"Your Honour, I would like to exercise my right to cross-examine the witness."

"Oh, of course, Mr. Valentine." The Judge replied.

"Did you see anything odd in there, Josh?" Asked Twilight.

"I think he was being vague on some parts if anything…" Josh replied.

"Vague? You mean he wasn't telling us everything?"

Josh folded his arms. "Right. Witness. Take it from the top. Repeat exactly what you just said."

"Uh, right, sure thing." Slip Slide cleared his throat. "I had just come back from my lunch break. It was about 1:20."

"How are you so sure of the time?"

"Well, that's the time I had to be back by to finish my work. Also, there's a clock in the room."

"I can confirm he came back at 1:20." Zhengyi added.

Josh's eyes suddenly flashed.

"Is something wrong, Josh?" Twilight asked.

"Let's find out." Josh replied. He pointed his finger. "Wait a second! Didn't you just say you were in the bathroom for the duration of the incident? How could you have confirmed he was there!?"

Zhengyi sighed. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear earlier, Mr. Valentine. I said I was in the bathroom for the DURATION of the INCIDENT. The incident didn't take place until 1:25, and Slip Slid returned at 1:20. Still got a problem?"

'_Only you…' _"…Okay. Witness, continue."

"I went back to the evidence room to start organising some papers Commander Zhengyi asked me to organise."

"What kind of documents where they?"

"OBJECTION! What does that have to do with murder!?"

"The Prosecution is right. Is there a reason we should care as to what the documents stated, Mr. Valentine?" The Judge asked.

"…No…" _'At least not without knowing what they were…'_

"Very well. Please continue." The Judge replied.

"And I would also like to remind the Defence to stop with the pointless trivial questions." Zhengyi added.

Josh sighed with a slight growl. "Okay…Witness, continue."

"I had overheard something about Josh Valentine's arrival earlier, so I was expecting him. However, I was too busy concentrating on the task at hoof to worry too much about him."

An idea suddenly sprung into Josh's mind. He slammed his hands down on the desk. "When and where did you hear about my arrival?"

"I told him." Zhengyi butted in. "Problem?"

"Okay, that cleared that up. Continue." _'Dammit! I was onto something there, but I lost it!'_

"When I heard him come in, there was a sudden burst of very bright light that engulfed the whole room. I also heard a bang at the same time the light went off."

Josh's eyes flashed. He pointed his finger. "Wait, did you just say you heard the bang at the same time the light went off?"

"Uhh…yeah…?"

"OBJECTION! The Prosecution has some explaining to do!"

"What do I need to explain?" Zhengyi asked in a tone that indicated that he didn't really care.

"He just said that he heard the bang at the minute the light went off."

"Yeah, so?" Zhengyi flinched in surprise as the realisation hit him.

"I see you caught on. What do you think had to cause that bang?" He slammed his hands on the table. "The weapons discharge! I wasn't in possession of a weapon of any type when I entered the room. How could I have shot somepony on or just before the light went off!? Or more to the point, before I was even in possession of a weapon!? And more questions arise from that! How could I have found a knife and then stabbed someone with that blinding light!?"

"The Defence has a point. This is a big oversight, Mr. Zhengyi. Can you explain it?"

"Hm. Naturally." He replied.

'_WHAT!? You've gotta be kidding me…'_

"When the light went off, it too made a slight bang noise. That's where the first bang came from."

"OBJECTION! Sorry Zhengyi, but that's impossible aswell! If that where the case, why did Slip Slide not hear 3 bangs!?"

"…Humph." Zhengyi simply crossed his forelegs…

…

"…Uhh…I, uh…I did hear 3 bangs. I was just kinda trying to, uh, condense everything, if you know what I mean. I didn't they'd be that much of a detail. I'm sorry."

'_Seriously!? There's no way anypony's buying that!'_

"Hmm…Lieutenant, please try to remember details like this in the future, so we don't have to have you testify again." The Judge said.

"Yes, Your Honour. Sorry, Your Honour."

'_OH COME ON!'_

"Witness, please testify again. This time, regarding the 3 'bangs'."

"Sure thing, boss." Slip Slide replied.

"Right, so the first bang I heard was from the light source. I turned around after that to hear the next 2 bangs. They was a very small gap in the time between them, and they were definitely louder than the first. I couldn't make out much more though, because the light was blinding."

"Hmm…that seems to resolve this inconsistency. Mr. Valentine, in your own time, begin your cross examination."

"Yes, Your Honour."

"I couldn't see anything in there, Josh. I'm sorry, but it seems I'm not gonna be any help on this one."

"It is pretty much sealed. I might have to do a bit of picking apart to get somewhere. Hey, could you fly the Autopsy Report over here please?"

"Sure." Twilight grabbed the Autopsy Report with her magic off the evidence table and flew it over to Josh. "Do you think you saw something in there?"

Josh plucked it out of the air. "I might be able to use it as an arguing point." He replied. He then looked at Zhengyi. "Okay, I'm ready. But before we begin, I'd like to ask a question. What was the source of this blinding light?"

"What relevance does that have?" Zhengyi asked.

"It's a recurring alibi. You can't say it's not relevant!" Josh argued.

"Humph. Fine. We don't know exactly what it was or how it started the light, but it was metallic and round. It was hollow with a frame or some description coming out from the centre. I think spokes better describe it."

"Spokes? Do you have a picture?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Zhengyi then started using magic to rummage through some documents he had underneath his desk until he found what he was looking for. "This look familiar?" He asked as he presented it to Josh.

"That's…that's a wheel off my race car…. No wonder the light was blinding, that wheel is made out of Magnesium. We're lucky it didn't explode and kill everypony!"

"I see. That resolves the issue of the light source, does it not?"

"Yes, I believe it does. Does the Defence have any objections?" Asked the Judge.

"No, Your Honour." Josh replied. "Although I do find 1 thing slightly suspicious." Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "How did you get it to produce that light anyway?"

"That's simple. We were performing final experiments with them before we released it back to you. Obviously, one of the diagnostic spells caused the temperature to rise at exponential rates, causing the burst of light. That's my theory. You got a better one, Mr. Valentine?"

"No…that sounds fine…I'm ready to begin my cross-examination now."

"Very well. Take it away, Mr. Valentine." The Judge said.

Josh nodded his head at Slip Slide to give him the go.

"Right, so the first bang I heard was from the light source."

Josh got the Autopsy Report out and started reading it. He skipped to the injuries/cause of death part.

_Injuries:_

_1 projectile hit to the front left leg. Not life threatening, but still very painful._

_1 projectile hit to the left shoulder. More life threatening, and even more painful. Possible loss of consciousness because the projectile gave a glancing blow to the nerve. Death may have occurred within a few minutes if left untreated._

_1 knife wound in the chest. At this time, shock and pain combination may have been enough to kill the victim. If not, death would occur within a matter of minutes._

"I turned around after that to hear the next 2 bangs. They was a very small gap in the time between them, and they were definitely louder than the first. I couldn't make out much more though, because the light was blinding."

"OBJECTION!" Josh exclaimed and pointed his finger. "You heard 3 bangs. Are you sure you heard nothing else within these bangs?"

"Uh…no. Why? Should I have?"

"Well, in my opinion yes. According to this Autopsy Report, the first 1 possibly 2 shots were not life threatening, but still very painful. Surely something like that would cause the victim to cry out in pain!?"

Zhengyi flinched backwards as he knew that he couldn't flaw that contradiction.

"But I didn't hear anything like that."

"But you should've. It just seems too strange that someone wouldn't scream in pain. Unless you honestly think she can take that much pain emotionlessly."

"The Defence is right. That does seem too strange to overlook. Mr. Zhengyi, what are your thoughts on this?"

"I think the Defence has nothing. If the burning of the so-called 'Magnesium' in the wheel is what called the bright light, surely the burning must've made a noise aswell? That noise must've covered the noise of the screams."

"OBJECTION! Magnesium doesn't burn very loudly. When it explodes you'll know about it."

"OBJECTION! It may not burn very loudly…at the right proximity."

Josh winced as he got caught out unexpectedly. _'Crap, I didn't think of that.' _"Twilight, show me the map of the crime scene please." He asked.

Twilight got the paper then slid it over to Josh. Josh looked at it…

…It was true. Slip Slide was standing pretty close to the wheel when it went off. It was a possibility that the burning noise could've overpowered the screaming.

"Well, I see no problem here." Zhengyi said.

"As do I. That certainly solved that mystery. Objection overruled!" The Judge declared and then banged his gavel.

"No…" _'Dammit…I've…I've run out of ammo…'_

"I think it's safe to say we can now shut the door on this case, Your Honour." Zhengyi said proudly.

"As do I. I see no room for any misinterpretation of the facts." The Judge replied.

'_No…I can't let it end like this…not now…'_

Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "I still think there are plenty of gray areas that we still haven't uncovered. I agree, the sound of burning Magnesium may have covered the sound of the screams, but surely he must've heard something in the background. But did he? No. I find that very suspicious."

Zhengyi sighed. "Looks like this is gonna go on a little longer…I have more witnesses to back up Slip Slide's claims, and bring along more evidence with them at the same time."

"Please, call them to the stand. Witness, you're free to go." The Judge said.

Slip Slide left the stand. "The prosecution calls Detective Stone Turn to the stand."

Josh was surprised. _'He was present at the scene of the crime?'_

"Josh, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Twilight asked.

"I believe so." Josh replied. "But we're about to find out in any case."

The Unicorn made his way to the stand, carrying with him a small briefcase. "Witness, state your name and occupation." Zhengyi ordered.

"Detective Stone Turn. I'm an investigator."

'_Uh oh. This guy wasn't much of a talker back when we first met him…but he was pretty easy to squeeze information out of when I worded my questions correctly…'_

"The Detective was present at the scene of the crime. He will testify about what he saw and his evidence."

"Very well. Please begin, Mr. Turn." The Judge replied.

Josh turned his attention to Stone Turn in anticipation.

"I was working on a camera. It seems a tad out of date, but it still worked and there was a little film left in it. When I heard the first bang, I jumped slightly and accidently took a picture. I immediately dropped the camera and turned around, but I couldn't see anything from the light. I then heard 2 more bangs and the 'slink' of a knife. When the light faded, I saw Eagle Eye and the human both lying on the floor. And, well…here we are."

"Hmm. Can you please show is this photo, Witness?" Asked the Judge.

Stone Turn didn't reply and simply presented the picture. "It's a little bad, because the light intensity ruined the film, but you can still just about make out the silhouettes."

The picture gave away some rather large details. There was a someone standing on 2 legs that looked like he was charging another pony. The first thought that entered everypony's mind was that it was Josh attacking Eagle Eye. Seeing how there was no indication that Eagle Eye tried to run or make any resistance, it was presumable that she was disorientated. There was also 2 things floating around the 2 ponies. Although it was very difficult to make out the silhouettes, it was presumable that they were the murder weapons.

That immediately got Josh's mind buzzing. _'Why are they floating in midair? The camera would've caught the movement blur if they were falling…' _He then noticed what appeared to be a Pegasus pony flying over them. He immediately disregarded his idea after seeing that. _'If I say too much, I might contradict myself…'_

"Okay. Your Honour, I'm ready to begin my cross-examination."

"Of course, Mr. Valentine. Off you go."

"Take it from the top, Witness."

"Right." Stone Turn cleared his throat. "I was working on a camera. It seemed a tad out of date, but it still worked and there was film left in it."

"How could you tell it was out of date?"

"We have better camera's here in Equestria now."

"I see. Continue."

"When I heard the first bang, I jumped and I accidently took a picture."

"How did you know you took a picture?"

"I heard the shutter close."

Josh's eyes flashed. "You heard the shutter close? Did you hear anything else other than the shutter and the 3 bangs?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?"

"OBJECTION! This witness was in earshot of the victim, but still failed to hear any cries!"

"OBJECTION! You seem obsessed with those screams, Mr. Valentine. So much so that you've appeared to have forgotten the problem in the first place;" Zhengyi smiled and shrugged. "Those screams don't seem to exist at all."

"You can't just say they didn't exist! How can you not cry for pain after having 2 bullets and a knife wound go through you!? And more to the point, how did both witnesses fail to hear them!?"

"What, pray tell, does that have to do with anything?"

"It questions the credibility of your witnesses!" Josh exclaimed as he slammed his hands on the desk.

"Hmm…as far as the Prosecution is concerned, these cries in pain that the Defence speaks of did not exist at all. I think the Defence is hopelessly grasping at straws."

"As do I. Objection overruled!" The Judge declared then banged his gavel.

'_Dammit. Guess I'm gonna have to start digging deeper. This is getting a bit more risky now, but it's the only ammo I've got left.'_ "Take a look at this picture again."

Josh held the picture in his hand. "First of all, this picture is too low quality to properly see the anatomy. This could be a pony standing on its hind legs and it would still pass as me. It's just the way he's standing on his hind legs that's causing this. Also, look at the other 2 small silhouettes. I know it's difficult to know what they are, but it is logical to presume that they are the murder weapons. Why are they floating in midair? There's no indication of movement in the picture, so they must be suspended in air."

"So what you're saying is a Unicorn was the one who wielded the weapons and killed Eagle Eye?" Zhengyi slammed his hooves on the desk. "Do you have any proof that the weapons were being suspended?"

"No, but do you have any proof that the weapons weren't being suspended? It's probably just a dodgy picture that didn't capture all the details. Also, who's the Pegasus pony flying above in this picture?" Josh pointed to the Pegasus in the picture.

"1 Pegasus was present at the scene of the crime. Lieutenant Junior Grade Hurricane. But how do you know that's him in the photo?"

"You've just contradicted yourself there, Zhengyi. You just said there was only 1 Pegasus present at the scene of the crime. Who else could it be?"

"Humph. You have a point, but I still find it a litter far-fetched to believe that any of this could actually happen. If what you're saying is that Hurricane took off, grabbed the weapons, did the deed, dropped them, then flew off, then why aren't there any signs of movement in the picture? The only sign of movement is from Hurricane, and I'll have you know he was the pony who knocked you out. Unfortunately it was too late by the time he did."

'_So that's where I got that bruise…'_

"I agree with Mr. Zhengyi. Unfortunately your claims aren't strong enough to hold water on their own without evidence to back them up. Objection overruled!" The Judge said then banged his gavel.

"Also, it is impossible for the figure in this picture to be a Unicorn. All the Unicorns present were not close enough to the exact position of where the crime took place to be possible suspects."

"He's right, Josh." Twilight added, showing him the map. "There's no way they could've gotten to her in time to kill her."

"The Prosecutions logic is sound. Objection overruled!" The Judge declared and then banged his gavel.

"And as for these screams Mr. Valentine speaks of? Well, as far as I'm concerned, they don't exist. Neither witnesses heard them, and there's no evidence to prove them otherwise."

"Once again Mr. Zhengyi, you've further narrowed down the possibilities! Objection overruled!" The Judge banged his gavel a 3rd time.

"And that is all. The remaining witnesses all pretty much say the same thing, so there's no point in bringing them out. There is also nothing left to present. I believe we're now ready to shut the door on this case."

"Of course. Nothing left to do now but to make my statement and hand down my verdict." The Judge replied.

'_No…it can't end like this…'_

"Do something, Josh!" Twilight pleaded.

"I don't know what! I've got no more ammo, and there's no holes in either of their testimonies."

The Judge banged his gavel 3 times. "I've heard enough. I see no room for any misinterpretation of the facts, and nothing has been overlooked. I therefore believe it is safe to hand down my verdict. I find the defendant, Josh Valentine, guilty!" He banged his gavel once. "That concludes this trial. Further examination and judgement will be made under the eye of Princess Celestia, along with the sentence. That is all! Court is adjourned!" The Judge banged his gavel 1 last time, and that was that…

…

…

* * *

_**Ouch! Looks like some deep shit! Can Josh get out of it? Well, I guess you'll just have to tune in next time to find out, won't you? ;)**_

_**So yeah, as I said above, give me your thoughts on me writing clop, and depending on the majority will affect what happens in the story. :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_


	11. It's All Over PART 2

_**EDIT (11th October 2012) - A guest reviewer who goes by the name of Brohoof told me that there was loads of typos in this chapter. I had a look through, but I couldn't find any. I corrected the few I did find, but I didn't really think there was that many. I would also like to remind you that I live in England, and we spell differently to you Americans. What might be an incorrect spelling for you is probably a correct spelling for me.**_

* * *

"WAIIIIIIIT!" Rainbow Dash shot into the witness stand, shoving Stone Turn out of the way. "I-I saw stuff too! I was there when it happened! I saw differently! Things don't add up! I wanna testify! Lemme testify!"

Josh was on the verge of giving up, but that was enough to get him to spark back into life.

"Excuse me miss, but what did you see?" Asked the Judge.

"OBJECTION!" Zhengyi slammed his hooves on the desk. "Your Honour, this is absurd! You've already made your judgement! That's the end!"

"Objection overruled. It is our job to make sure we analyse every witness account and every piece of evidence properly and thoroughly. I wouldn't be doing my job if I let this slip because of a little complication. I therefore withdraw my previous verdict of guilty. The Court will take a 10 minute recess for the Prosecution to prepare this new witness."

"Your Honour, the Defence would like to request a 12 minute recess to allow me to have a 2 minute talk with the witness."

"OBJECTION! And have you hide away the evidence that points to your guilt!? HA! I think not!"

Josh sighed. "Please, Your Honour? The Prosecution can sort all his stuff out before me, just please let me have a 2 minute pep talk with her?"

"Hmm…very well. The Court will take a 12 minute recess and then reconvene for this new testimony. That is all. Court is adjourned!" The Judge replied then banged his gavel.

**\/\/\/\/**

* * *

"Do you think Rainbow Dash will be our big break, Josh?" Twilight asked Josh in the Defendant's Lobby as he was having a more thorough look at the evidence.

"Well, she's all we've got. I've already got a guilty verdict, so it can only really go up from there." He replied.

"I wonder what she saw…"

"As do I. I just hope she doesn't say anything too contradictory…"

"What's that supposed to mean? I thought that was good."

"Nevermind. I'm gonna go talk to her. I'll be right back." Josh hopped out of his chair and headed towards the preparation room.

He arrived just as Zhengyi walked out. "She's all yours." He said with a devious smile.

That was enough to aggravate him. _'Damn it Skittles, what did you tell him!?'_

Josh walked into the room. It was very small, like an office. Nothing in it, and only 1 window. 'Gee, you would've thought they'd give us something to sit on at least.' He thought.

He looked at Rainbow Dash. "How did it go?" He asked.

"Fine. He asked me a bunch'a questions, and I replied with what I thought was best."

'_What you thought was best? You mean you didn't tell the truth? Oh geez. We're off to a good start already…'_ "That's good." He replied. "But there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What's that?" Rainbow Dash replied, clueless.

"Listen, Skittles;" he came alongside her and knelt down on his knees. The foot or 2 that it took off his height made him about the same height as her. "I may say some things or ask you some questions out there that might put you on the spot. Whatever happens, I'm not trying to do any harm to you or get you in trouble or anything like that. I'm only trying to get to the bottom of this, and your cooperation will be key to that."

"But…when you say put me on the spot…do you mean like..."

"Questioning some of the stuff you say?" Josh finished for her. He placed his left hand on her shoulder. "Yes. I will. But that's my job, and it's all for a good cause. Trust me, Rainbow Dash. I may make you look many things. Nervous, stupid, embarrassed, incompetent, but I will never do anything to hurt you. You understand?"

"I…think so…"

"And 1 other thing: I just want you to tell the truth, all truth, and nothing but the truth. Don't make things up just because you think it will help me. Lies only provoke more lies. Just tell the truth, and you'll be fine and come out of this without a scratch. I promise."

"Sure thing, I can do that." She replied in an upbeat tone.

A knock came from the door. "The Trial is about to recommence. I must ask you to take your positions." A guard said from outside the door.

"Allright then…"

Josh stood up. He then leant down and lightly kissed Rainbow Dash on the cheek. "Give 'em hell, Skittles." He patted her on the back twice and then headed for the door.

Rainbow Dash felt herself blush a tiny bit. She rubbed the cheek Josh kissed with her hoof and then proceeded to exit the room.

**\/\/\/\/**

* * *

The words of the jury where echoing throughout the Courtroom. They ceased when the Judge banged his gavel 3 times. "Court is now back in session for the trial of Mr. Josh Valentine."

"The Prosecution is ready, Your Honour." Zhengyi replied.

"The Defence is ready, Your Honour." Josh replied after him.

"The Prosecution will call the new witness to the stand." The Judge ordered, obviously not wanting to waste anymore time.

"Of course, Your Honour. She's taking the stand now."

The cyan Pegasus stood at the stand in the middle of the room. "Witness, state your name and occupation." Zhengyi ordered.

"Names Rainbow Dash. I'm the Ponyville Weather mare."

"Now, it is my understanding that you were unintentionally at the scene of the crime and you saw things that don't add up with what the other 2 witnesses said." The Judge said

"That's right. I don't get it." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Hmm. Very well. Please testify about how it happened through your point of view."

"This is it, Josh. Do you really think it'll make a difference?" Twilight asked.

"I hope so…" Josh replied.

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "Me and Josh were getting ready to go see a Wonderbolts Derby. He told me to go on ahead whilst he went to sort something out quickly. I didn't want to leave him, so I waited. But I started agitated waiting by myself, so I decided to go follow him. Some of the ponies around the Castle gathered that's who I was looking for, so they directed me. I finally caught up to him when I saw him walking towards the place where the murder happened. I didn't want to intrude, so I just kept some distance while I waited for them. But then I saw a bright light and gasps. I thought that someone bad was happening, so I rushed to see what was happening. I flew through the doorway, but the light was brighter than I thought. It blinded me when I saw it, my eyes hurt so bad I couldn't open 'em for a few seconds. I flew around picking up some random things in my path. I then heard those 2 bangs and some screams. When I could finally see again, I was outside of the room. I was laying on the grass. When I tried to go back in, they wouldn't let me. I got a glimpse of a pony laying on the ground before I went back to my room at the Castle. And here we are now…"

"I saw quite a few gray areas in there, Josh." Twilight said.

"A few? The whole thing is 1 gray area." Josh replied. "But this is our last shot, so let's make it count."

"In your own time, begin your cross-examination Mr. Valentine." The Judge said.

"Yes, Your Honour." Josh replied, signalling Rainbow Dash to begin.

"Me and Josh were getting ready to go see a Wonderbolts Derby."

"And was this an official event?"

"What do you mean? Of course it was. They were there, weren't they?"

"Oh sure, what I meant is that was it an official event? Like something on their normal schedule?"

"OBJECTION! What does this have to do with murder!?" Zhengyi butted in.

"Well, I kinda like racing too, and-"

"The Defence will cease with these pointless trivial questions or else they will be penalized!" Zhengyi declared.

"Mr. Zhengyi, I'm the one who says that." The Judge replied.

"Then go ahead and say it!" Zhengyi snapped back.

"Uhh…the Defence will cease with these pointless trivial questions or else they will be penalized…" The Judge banged his gavel.

'_There's something about this Wonderbolts Derby that sounds suspicious. I better keep note of it…'_

"He told me to go ahead whilst he went to sort out something quickly. I didn't want to leave him, so I waited."

"Didn't you say you wanted to get the best seats? Why did you wait for us then?"

"Well…because otherwise you wouldn't be able to see me through the crowd."

'_That's a pathetic excuse! You're the only pony I know with a rainbow coloured mane! I better not question it further though. I don't want a penalty…' _"Okay, continue."

"But I started agitated waiting by myself, so I decided to go follow him. Some of the ponies around the Castle gathered that's who I was looking for, so they directed me. I finally caught up to him when I saw him walking towards the place where the murder happened. I didn't want to intrude, so I just kept some distance while I waited for them. But then I saw a bright light and gasps."

Josh suddenly sprung into life "OBJECTION! If she could hear gasps, then surely Slip Slide and Stone Turn must've heard the screams!"

"OBJECTION! Sorry Mr. Valentine, but that's not going to work. She wasn't within earshot of the burning wheel, therefore her hearing would be unaffected by it. Of course she heard gasps! She had nothing else to hear!"

"The Prosecution is right. Objection overruled!" The Judge exclaimed then banged his gavel.

"Allright, continue." _'I still find that slightly strange…'_

"I thought that someone bad was happening, so I rushed to see what was happening."

"If you thought something bad was happening, why would you get yourself involved in it?"

"OBJECTION! The reason why is irrelevant. The face is she did!" Zhengyi butted in.

'_Zhengyi, you can be a real pain in the ass, you know that you cocky little son of a bitch!?' _"Fine. Continue."

"I flew through the doorway, but the light was brighter than I thought. It blinded me when I saw it, my eyes hurt so bad I couldn't open 'em for a few seconds. I flew around picking up some random things in my path."

"So you just flew around blindly for those few seconds?"

"Well, yeah."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to stop and land?"

"Well, I wanted to, but I thought you were in trouble, so I wanted to try and stop whoever was trying to hurt you."

"Okay, I understand what you were thinking. But these random objects you said you picked up. Did you know what they were? Did they do anything? Did you do anything to them?"

"I felt a few things go off in my hooves a few times, but I couldn't tell you what they were. Sorry."

"Okay, I understand. Continue."

"I then heard those 2 bangs and some screams."

"OBJECTION! She managed to hear the sound of the screams over the burning, whereas your other witnesses didn't. How do you explain that!?"

"Simple." Zhengyi replied. "I'm actually surprised you haven't figured it out yet, Mr. Valentine."

Josh's face went blank._ 'Huh? Am I completely missing something here? Oh God, somepony please hit me if I'm being totally stupid here…'_

"Look at this picture again." Zhengyi presented the photo took by the old camera. "This Pegasus in the picture. 2 guesses as to who it is, Mr. Valentine."

'_Could it really be Rainbow Dash in that picture…wait a minute!'_ "OBJECTION! Stone Turn testified that that camera went off AS SOON as the light went off. But Rainbow Dash just said she didn't enter until AFTER the light went off."

Zhengyi flinched as he noticed the contradiction.

Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "This can't be Rainbow Dash in this picture!"

"Hmm…that does seem to be a pretty big issue here, Mr. Zhengyi. Can you explain?" The Judge asked.

"Hmmm…well, there is 1 possibility. Care to say it, Mr. Valentine?"

"Uhh…no. I…I can't…" _'Dammit! I knew something like this would happen! Now it might be my only option. I just hope it doesn't upset Rainbow Dash too much…'_

"Thought so. Continue witness."

"What was it, Josh? What was he talking about?"

"I…can't say…"

"When I could finally see again, I was outside of the room. I was laying on the grass. When I tried to go back in, they wouldn't let me. I got a glimpse of a pony laying on the ground before I went back to my room at the Castle. And here we are now…"

"How did you get out there?"

"I not really sure. I guess I was just lucky to go straight out the door at some point."

"But why were you lying on the grass and not still flying?

"Irrelevant." Zhengyi butted in. "This is past the time of the murder. Therefore, anything from here on has no bearing on our current case."

"The Prosecution has a point. Why should we care, Mr. Valentine?"

"Because…because…" _'Uh oh…' _"Uhh…there's no reason. I withdraw my question."

"Very well. That brings us to a close on this cross-examination." The Judge banged his gavel.

"Well, that solves that mystery, Your Honour. Now can you hand down your verdict?" Zhengyi asked.

"I don't see why not. It appears the Defence's line has run short. I can now safely hand down my verdict now that we know all the facts."

'_No…I can't let it end like this. I've come too far. And I only have 1 option left. Rainbow Dash may not like me for it, but it's the only way. I've got to buy more time. There has to be more evidence somewhere. I need to find it. I need time, and this is the only way I'm gonna get it.'_

"OBJECTION!" Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "Your Honour, the Defence would like to cast suspicion on another suspect!"

"Another suspect!?"

Zhengyi formed a board smile across his face. _'Dammit. With a face like that, I know I'm falling into a trap. But it's the only way…'_ "The one the Defence accuses is this very witness! Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash flinched. "WHAT!?"

"Josh, what are you doing!?" Twilight demanded.

"Rainbow Dash is a Pegasus! Therefore, it is perfectly possible that it is her in this picture!" He presented the picture. "It is also perfectly possible that these weapons are falling in this picture, as the Prosecution stated earlier. She could've killed Eagle Eye and then dropped the weapons. Attempting to fly away, but she couldn't see because of the blinding light."

"Hmm….these are certainly wild claims, Mr. Valentine…can you back them up?"

"Certainly." Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "In the Autopsy Report, it states that the 2 bullet wounds were to the shoulder and foreleg. That's not where you shoot if you want to kill. You aim for the head."

"Perhaps that just means she's a poor aim?" The Judge suggested.

"Perhaps…or," Josh flung his finger out. "Maybe she was in so much of a rush she didn't have time to aim!"

"Josh, this is ridiculous! Rainbow Dash is innocent!" Twilight pleaded.

"Just what are you getting at, Mr. Valentine?" The Judge asked.

"In this picture, she's flying. Fast by the looks of things."

"Hm…OH!"

Josh slammed his hands on the desk. "Of course she was a poor aim! She was too busy flying fast to concentrate on shooting!"

"What's your problem!? I'm trying to help you and you do this!?" Rainbow Dash demanded, but was ignored.

"Hmm. These seem like very solid claims, Mr. Valentine. But what about motive?"

"As the Prosecution said earlier, motive is irrelevant. The fact still stands; Rainbow Dash is just as or more suspicious than me!"

"Hmm…Mr. Zhengyi, what does the Prosecution think of Mr. Valentine's claims? You've been awfully quiet throughout all this."

"The Prosecution agrees." Zhengyi replied.

'_Huh? He's agreeing with me? Why? Now I know there's more to this than meets the eye. There's no advantage to agreeing with me that he'd gain. In fact, that's helping me, something he doesn't want to do. The only thing that would happen is that Rainbow Dash might have to spend the night in a Detention Centre.'_

Suddenly, an idea hit him like a tidal wave. _'Up to this point, all of Zhengyi's witnesses have been ponies who were working at the scene of the crime at the time of the murder. In other words, fellow Royal Guard members. His colleagues. His friends. He probably used that to make their view a bit more biased towards me, and therefore, he got them to lie accordingly. Rainbow Dash is the only one not under his influence, therefore he needs her out of the way if he wants his plan to work. That's why he agreed with me! So she was out of the way!'_

"You both understand that I will have to suspend the proceedings until tomorrow if this is the case?" The Judge reminded.

"Perfectly." Zhengyi replied.

"Of course, Your Honour." Josh replied.

"Very well. Please take this Pegasus into custody." The Judge ordered.

2 Royal Guard ponies came down and took Rainbow Dash by the wings. "Hey! Hooves off! Josh you idiot! Look what you've done!" Rainbow Dash flung a few more remarks before she was eventually out of earshot.

"Josh…how could you…" Twilight looked very upset.

"Under these new circumstances, court will have to be suspended until tomorrow giving both sides the opportunity to investigate into these new claims. That is all! Court is adjourned!" The Judge banged his gavel and everypony proceeded to leave.

"I told everypony that we could trust you…" Twilight said softly. She then raised her head and glared angrily at Josh. "My mistake!" She then turned aggressively to leave the Courtroom.

"Twilight, wait!" Josh called, but Twilight ignored him. Leaving him to clean up on his own.

Josh pulled up everything he needed from the desk and then headed back to the Defendant's Lobby. He noticed that Twilight had left her backpack in there. Guess she wouldn't mind him borrowing it.

"Well, looks like I'm on my own from here on out." He said to himself. "Nothing new there. Just like my old life back on Earth…guess I better just get it done." He grabbed a few more things and then put them in Twilight's backpack. He then flung it over his shoulders and proceeded to leave the Courthouse.

Halfway down the extremely long flight of stairs that led to the Courthouse, he stopped and then sat down. Only because he realised that he didn't know where to go.

'_I really should've planned this out more…okay, what now? It's gotta have something to do with Rainbow Dash. Why? What could she have to do with this? She wasn't even supposed to be there!_

_Wait, that's it! It's not why she was there; it's why she SHOULDN'T have been there! Why shouldn't she have been there? Well, it messes with Zhengyi's plans for a start, but I'll disregard those since I have no concrete proof of that, so that won't help me at all in Court, it'll just make me look like an idiot. But she was also supposed to be…'_

He snapped his fingers. _'At the Wonderbolts Derby! That's why I found it slightly suspicious earlier about when I was questioning her about it. If it wasn't an official event, then it's a good possibility that Zhengyi created it somehow to create an alibi for Rainbow Dash. I think I need to have a chat with somepony about this...but first, I need to find proof that it was an unofficial event – that is, if it was an unofficial event…'_

He bought himself to his feet and set off to find proof. _'Okay, where would I find this type of thing…Oh! Yesterday's newspaper! But where would I find yesterday's newspaper...the Train Station perhaps?"_

At least he knew where that was. He headed towards the Train Station as fast as he could. When he got there, it wasn't surprisingly busy. But that was probably due to the fact that a train had literally just left.

He looked around some of the waiting areas, but couldn't really find anything. He then caught a janitor out of the corner of his eye. He walked towards him. "Excuse me good Sir, but you wouldn't happen to have a copy of yesterdays paper, would you?" The pony seemed rather old.

"Hmm…I dunno. I pick up so much dang garbage I can't keep track of it. But if I do, it'll be in here." He opened up a garbage bag. And to Josh's amazement, there it was. He could tell it was yesterdays because the headline said 'Soarin' Triumphs in Wonderbolts Derby'.

He reached in and picked it out. "Thank you." He said with a smile.

"No problem, young'in." He replied then started picking all the litter up again. "Geez, is there this much litter back in your world?"

"Oh, you have no idea…" Josh replied. "Thank you anyway." He said as he turned to leave.

He sat down on a bench in the Train Station and began to read it.

' Soarin' takes the top step of the podium in today's Derby, narrowly beating his main competitors Spitfire and Fleetfoot by a very small margin. The race today was apparently miraculously scheduled on a very short notice. Reports say that competitors were still arriving on the day of the Derby. This was due to a very short notice given by the event organiser, who is still unknown. All we know is that the money raised at the Derby today will go towards a charity dedicated to restoring some of Equestria's most ancient artefacts. Next stop on the calendar is round 13 which will take place next weekend though the City of Manehatten.'

'_So it was all an unofficial race! I bet that charity doesn't even exist! This proves my theory, but I just hope that it helps me settle things with Rainbow Dash…'_

He put the paper in his bag and then started heading off. _'I think I ought'a talk to the Wonderbolts about this first…that is if they're still there…'_

He didn't really know where the Derby track was, so he had to ask for directions along the way. Most of the time, the ponies were uncooperative or didn't give him detailed enough directions. But when he did get what he needed, he made it there pretty easily in little time.

Since there were no big events going on, he was hoping that he could just walk straight on in there. To his surprise, he could. There wasn't a soul in any of the stands or around the track. Then again, you can't exactly stand on the track; it's made out of cloud.

He noticed an area behind one of the stands that looked similar to the Paddock's he got back at the race tracks on Earth. He headed towards it, hoping to find some of the Wonderbolts back there who could hopefully give him some answers.

He walked through a dark room. The lighting was obviously dimmed due to the fact that there was no big event taking place today. It was a narrow corridor with a pretty dull looking interior.

He came to a widening in the corridor where the room split off through 4 separate doors. 2 of them had markings on them, but he didn't know what they meant. The other 2 were just blank.

He was contemplating going through one of the unmarked doors, but then he heard a voice coming from one of the ones with a marking on it. That automatically changed his mind for him. He pushed the door and followed it through.

It was much better lit in this room. It appeared to be white tiles for the floor and walls. There was an immediate right turn as he entered through the door, which lead down a corridor to a left turn. Josh couldn't hear running water, but there was a vague presence of steam in the air, and he also smelt the water. Like someone had just stepped out of the shower.

When he turned the corner, he saw the source of the steam and water smell. There was a communal shower at the far end of the room. There appeared to be benches and lockers sitting in the middle. That's when it hit him; this was a changing room! _'Oh crap. I hope I'm in the right-"_

He suddenly felt a blow to his head. "Ow! Watch it!"

"Watch it!? You walk into a mares changing room and you tell me to watch it!?"

'_Yep, just what I thought…' _"I'm sorry, I didn't know, I don't know what the-"

"Hey, your that human, aren't you?"

'_Well no shit Sherlock! How many other humans are there in Equestria!?' _He turned and looked at her. He immediately recognised her as Spitfire. "Oh. You must be Spitfire. My friend Rainbow Dash talks about you a lot."

"Yeah, that's me. And I doubt she's your friend anymore after what you did to her in Court today."

"Oh…" He looked away. "You heard about that, huh?"

"Yep. But that's not the point. Why are you here?"

He looked back at her. "Rainbow Dash is innocent. And I intend to prove it. I came here to ask you some questions. You're the exact pony I wanted to talk to."

She raised an eyebrow. "And whys that?"

"Because I want to know; who organised this event?" He asked.

She chuckled as she took a few steps to her right. "To be honest, I'm really not sure. All I know is that they're from some form of charity."

'_Should I tell her my suspicions? Or should I keep my current line of questions? I fear she may become uncooperative if I tell her the whole story, so I'll just stick with this for now.'_

"How did they contact you to organise this race?"

"Well…it all started a couple days beforehoof."

'_A couple of days? That lines up when I first arrived in Equestria…'_

"We got a letter telling when, where and the details. Even though it was on short notice, we made adjustments to make it happen."

"I see. Do you still have this letter?"

"Uhh…I think so…hold on." He walked up to the row of lockers and opened one of them up. She bought a bag out and placed it on the bench. She then began rummaging through it. "Mmmm….ah! Here it is."

She bought it out and handed it to Josh. "That was the letter I got."

Josh briefly skim-read the letter. It was very detailed. It contained everything from travel information to hospitality to even a timetable. However, there was no official name signing off. Just the name of the charity. "Hmm…you mind if I keep this?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why not. It's of no use to me anymore."

"Thank you." Josh put it in the bag. "Is there anything else?"

"Uhh…no…well…there is 1 little thing, but it's not much…"

"What is it? Anything is useful to me at this stage."

"Well…from the moment we arrived in Canterlot to getting ready to leave for Manehatten now, everything seemed to have gone off without a hitch. Everything was catered for, no waiting times, nothing. It just all seemed a little too…perfect…"

"Hmm. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Spitfire."

"Don't mention it. Just clear Rainbow's name." She replied with a smile.

"Oh don't worry; I'll do more than that." Josh replied, returning the smile. He then proceeded to leave.

'_Right. So I got proof that it wasn't an official event, which proves that it may've been laid there to be an alibi for Rainbow Dash. Unfortunately I can't do much until I can confirm who wrote this letter. Only Shining Armour can do that, but I doubt he'll be very cooperative after what Twilight's been telling him…I better just go have a look at the crime scene. I might be able to find more clues there…that is if it hasn't all been cleaned out by the investigation teams yet…'_

Josh walked back through Canterlot towards the crime scene. To his surprise, there was not a pony around…well, almost.

He saw Zhengyi slumped back against the wall, eating a salad, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

He walked up to him. "Shouldn't you have work to be doing?"

His attention span turned as he heard Josh's voice. "Oh Mr. Valentine, I didn't see you coming!" Before Josh could respond, he flew the salad bowl over to him. "Potato salad? Take a bit."

Josh didn't look too amused. "As I said, shouldn't you have work to do?" He repeated himself.

Zhengyi chuckled as he put his food down. "The result of this case rests on you being able to contradict me Mr. Valentine, not vice versa. It is you who has work to do." He then returned to reading his paper.

'_He can't be serious. I've met some pretty cocky people in my time, but this guy is ridiculous!'_

Josh turned and headed towards the scene of the crime. Zhengyi really wasn't kidding. There wasn't a single pony investigating. _'Oh well, gives me more room to do some snooping.'_

He walked into the middle of the room. _'Well, where do I start…?'_

He headed towards the back of the room. There he saw one of his race car wheels that had changed colour to solid white. Which was the colour Magnesium changed to when you burn it. 'Well, I guess he was right about the burning wheel that caused the light. Still lucky it didn't explode and kill everypony though…'

He put his hand on it, but immediately took it off when it started burning. _'Yeow!' _He shook his hand a few times and hissed in pain, cursing under his breath. _'That things still hot. Why? The only way it would've retained the heat is if…it was burnt recently…or it could've just been left in the sun, but I highly doubt that. First of all, the sun is in the wrong place, and secondly, I doubt ashes retain heat almost 24 hours after they were burnt..._

…_That means…it must've been burnt recently…very suspicious…'_

He continued moving around the room until he found the old camera. _'That's the camera Stone Turn mentioned examining when the picture was taken. I think this might've been my Great Grandfathers. Or my Grandfathers when he was very young…' _He picked it up and took the film out. _'Well, that was the only picture on the film. Oh well…'_ He put the film back in and put it back.

He walked back around to the other side, where he found a ton of papers. _'Those must be those papers the first witness mentioned. What was his name? Slip Slide? Looks like Zhengyi was right, they were nothing important. Just a bunch of legal stuff. I'm glad I didn't risk a penalty for that now.'_

He turned around to overlook the rest of the room. He then let out a long sigh. _'There isn't really anything left here, but there's nowhere else I could really be looking…guess I'll just have to find something here…'_

He slowly began walking forward, not really paying attention and letting his mind wander. He bought himself back to reality when he jumped as he felt himself kick something on his right foot.

He looked down to see he had just kicked a small paper bin over. _'Oh shit!'_Luckily it wasn't too full. Just filled with…well, paper.

He picked it up and then started putting the contents back inside. But then he started noticing something as he put the white pieces of paper in. In between all the white, he found little scraps of slightly yellowish paper. They were no bigger than an inch long and half an inch wide. It felt different. It felt more like writing paper.

He didn't think much of it at first, but then he started noticing more and more of these scraps. He put all the white paper back in and picked up all the scraps. They all varied in shapes and sizes. _'Someone must've been in a rush to rip this up. I wonder why…'_ He then noticed burn marks on some of the pieces. But only around the edges, so they were still legible. _'Someone must've been trying to get rid of this without someone being able to find it and read it. But why? Looks like they failed in any case…'_

He started looking at some of the words on them.

'To: SH'

'Plot'

'Frame'

'Zhengyi'

'Murder'

'ke over Equestria'

'Is a'

'Get Josh's'

'Futile'

'Technology'

'Bably dead'

'Ding this'

'Lt E'

'_Hmm…well, that was pretty gibberish. But more than half the letter is missing, and I doubt even these bits are in order. I've got to sort them out, but not now. I've got a pretty good idea of what this is about. But first, I think it's time to settle things with Rainbow Dash…'_

* * *

_**And that concludes this part of the chapter. The next chapter may become part 3 if I can't think of a more creative name. I'm REALLY bad with names for anything**. **XD**_

_**Well, there's some more clues to get your heads around now. Have a guess at what they are and what they mean. In the meantime, all will be revealed in future chapters. ;)**_

**_PLEASE REVIEW! :D_**


	12. Trials and Tribulations

_**Why hey everypony. This chapter felt like a pain to write. Don't ask me why, it just did. :s**_

_**As a result, I think I may have made some mistakes in this chapter or it wasn't very good. I know, I'm sorry. It'll get better though.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_

* * *

Time was running out. Josh still needed time to organise a case for tomorrow's trial. But he still had things he needed to do, and suspicions he needed confirming.

He made his way into the Detention Centre where Rainbow Dash was being held. He got through all the reception areas and then into the main Detention Centre. A guard was standing outside the door. "Uh, hi. I'm here to see Rainbow Dash." He spoke.

"I'm sorry, she specifically asked for no visitors. She seems a bit…unstable. At the moment."

Josh sighed. _'I hope she's not freaking out…' _"I'm representing the Defence side in my trial. I think I'm entitled to seeing her whether she likes it or not."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow it."

"Oh come on. Please? I'll be a few minutes. No more."

"…" The guard didn't respond, obviously not changing from his last statement.

"I found contradicting evidence, but I need to discuss it with Rainbow Dash." Josh stated.

That sparked his attention. "What?"

"I found new evidence that contradicts some of the Prosecution's previous thoughts and proves Rainbow Dash's innocence. But I need to discuss it with her first. Can you please let me in?"

The guard thought long and hard about it. Eventually, he opened the door. "As I said earlier, she seemed unstable. Please be careful."

'_Trust me buddy, after what I've been through, I think I can handle a slightly insane Rainbow Dash…'_

Josh made his way to Rainbow Dash's room. It was the same room he was held in. He pushed the door open. "Rainbow Dash? It's me, Josh." She was sitting on a chair facing the wall.

"Oh, it's you…" She said in an angry tone. She slowly turned around and glared at him. "Come to kill me too, huh? Like you killed Eagle eye!?"

"Rainbow Dash, I can understand why you're mad at me, but you have to understand. There was a reason-"

"Then it better be a bucking good one! The Wonderbolts will never let me join with a criminal record!"

'_Skittles, you don't even have a criminal record yet. Calm down…' _"I understand it wasn't fair on you Rainbow Dash, but you have to understand-"

"Understand WHAT!? That you needed someone else to pin the blame on and it just so happened that I was there!? I was trying to defend you! And what do you do!? Accuse me of murder and possibly ruin my life!"

"Skittles-"

"Don't you 'Skittles' me! You don't understand!"

Josh could see tears forming in her eyes. _'Geez, I struck deeper than I thought…'_

She looked away. "I…I thought you were an awesome guy…I thought I found as close I would get to a guy version of me…" Tears started rolling down her face, and she blushed as she felt ashamed and embarrassed about crying in front of someone. "I felt so betrayed…"

"Rainbow Dash," Josh slowly approached her. "You're one of my best friends. No, not even that. You ARE my best friend. And it absolutely ripped me apart having to do this to you. But it was my only choice."

Rainbow Dash sniffed. "But…you just looked so cool and collected when you said it…"

"…I've said it before, I'll say it again. Do not mistake composure for ease." He sat down on the floor beside her. "You've actually helped me in more ways than I could imagine."

"How?" Rainbow Dash asked then sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"The reason I accused you is because I needed more time. I know it wasn't fair on you, but I hadn't done anything, I would've been found guilty right there on the spot, and I wouldn't even be here right now. But I think I have found proof that clears both of our names."

"You have?"

Josh nodded. "It all looks pretty positive, but I'm gonna need cooperation from you and Twilight. It's gonna be quite a big fight tomorrow. And there is a small chance that physical fighting may break out. 'Cause I've got a sneaky suspicion…"

"What?"

"Nothing." He replied. He then took Rainbow Dash's right forehoof and cupped it in both his hands. "Things may get tough in there, Skittles. Zhengyi is sure to put up a strong fight. And it may start looking worse and worse for us as time goes on. Reputations may be scarred, but those scars can heal." _'Here's a metaphor she should understand.' _"I just need you to keep your foot in the gas until you're clear on the outside coming off turn 4 then you can take the chequered flag. You with me?"

Josh could feel her hoof shaking in his hands. "Uh, yeah…" She replied, looking away.

"Are you feeling allright, Dash? You feel…shaky."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" She replied, still looking away.

Josh leaned in closer. "Is there something wrong? Something you should tell me?"

"N-no. N-nothin'…"

"Nothing but what?"

"…just…"

"Just what?"

Josh noticed her blush more.

"I'm…" He heard her mumble something.

"Sorry, couldn't hear that." Josh replied.

"I'm…" She mumbled something else.

Josh took her by the chin in between his thumb and index finger on his right hand and slowly pulled her head around. "Speak up a little bit." He asked her.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. Josh could see her tears returning. _'What's got her this time?'_

She suddenly leant forward and buried her head in Josh's shoulder. "I'm…scared…" She whispered.

'_Has that been her problem this entire time?'_

"I-I've never had everypony turn on me like that before. I felt like I had nopony to turn to. Like nopony trusted me. For the first time, I actually felt like my life could be properly ruined…I mean…even you looked at me like…I did it…"

'_That was all part of the show.'_ Josh felt the dampness of her tears on his shoulder. _'Being accused of a crime you didn't commit can be rather traumatic. Especially murder…'_

"I know how exactly how you feel, Skittles." Josh hugged her back. "I spent my whole life having no one to turn to. Back on Earth, all I had was acquaintances. Here in Equestria, I have friends. Friends far better than I could've ever imagined. I won't leave you tomorrow, and I won't back down until everything's how it should be. Trust me; I got you in this mess, I'll get you out of it. I promise."

Josh felt Rainbow Dash hugging him on his back. He simply squeezed a little harder and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Don't leave me…" She said softly.

"I won't." Josh replied. He tried to pull away, because he had things to do, but Rainbow Dash didn't let go. "Umm…Skittles…"

"Hold me for a bit longer. It makes me feel better." She spoke.

"…Of course." Josh started running his fingertips through her mane. After a little bit, he felt Rainbow Dash pulling away on her own accord. He let her do so, pulling away slightly himself.

They sat back, both staring into each other's eyes. "Uhh…Dash…there's…there's something I've been wanting to tell you…" Josh blushed, "for a while now…"

"Yeah...? Go on..." Rainbow Dash replied, also blushing.

'_Wait. Is she implying-'_

The door suddenly flung open, making them both jump. Josh looked behind him and saw Twilight coming through the door. "Allright Rainbow, I'm gonna-"

She flinched when she saw Josh. "J-Josh!?"

"T-Twilight!?"

Her eyes quickly turned to slits. "What are you doing here!?"

"I could ask you the very same question." Josh replied as he bought himself to his feet. "I came here to make amends with Rainbow Dash after what happened in court today. I explained everything to her, and she now understands what's going on. If you give me a chance, I can explain everything to you too."

"Please listen to him, Twilight! He knows what he's doing!" Rainbow Dash added.

Twilight scoffed. "Allright then Mr. Know-It-All, who did it!? It wasn't Rainbow Dash, it wasn't you, then who was it!?"

'_That names rich, coming from you.' _"I…I have my suspicions. Although I need them confirming before I can build a case upon them. With that, I will require your brother's assistance."

"Yeah, you have your suspicions. Why do you think they're called suspects!? Out with it already! Who is it!?"

"…The Prosecutor…Zhengyi."

Twilight flinched. "Really? What evidence do you have to support that?"

"Well, I don't have any evidence to back it up yet. And the evidence I have requires confirming, but I'll tell you what I think:

My suspicions were raised earlier in the trial today with Rainbow Dash. I noticed how Zhengyi initially didn't want Rainbow to be called to the stand. I think I know why. All the previous witnesses were Zhengyi's colleagues. His friends. His co-workers. He probably used his influence to change their opinions of me, thus getting them to lie accordingly to make it look like I did it.

Rainbow Dash wasn't under Zhengyi's influence, therefore she was likely to throw his plan into jeopardy. He needed to get her out of the way for his plan to work. How did he do that? That's simple."

Josh drew the article from the newspaper from the bag he borrowed from Twilight. "This news article states that the Derby yesterday was not even an official event. And it also says that it was put together on a very short notice. The report says that the event was a charity race to raise money for a charity dedicated to restoring some of Equestria's most ancient artefacts. I'm willing to bet money that that charity doesn't even exist. The real reason for that race being held was so that Rainbow Dash had an alibi. So that she should've been at the Wonderbolts Derby instead of at the scene of the crime. But of course that didn't happen."

"Hmm…that actually sounds…slightly feasible…but what evidence do you-"

"Right here!" Josh interrupted Twilight and pulled out the letter Spitfire had given him. "This is the letter that Spitfire, the Captain of the Wonderbolts, received prior to the race. As you can see it's very detailed. It includes pretty much everything you would want to know. But there's no official sign off name, only the name of the charity at the bottom. I think Zhengyi wrote it."

Twilight picked up the note with her magic. Josh let go of it for her to have a look at it. "…Hmmm…this does seem slightly suspicious given the time frame between organising the race and when the race was held…but how can you prove Zhengyi wrote this?"

"That's where your brother comes in." Josh replied. "He'll be able to identify the writing and tell us who wrote it. By the way, how good is your brother at memorizing everypony's writing on his team? And how good is he at being a detective?"

"Uhh, I wouldn't know, why?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I found these at the scene of the crime." Josh replied and bought out the remains of the ripped, burnt letter he found. "I can't decipher what it might've said, and I haven't a clue of who could've possibly written it."

"Hm…could it be one of the witnesses?" Twilight suggested.

"Possibly, but we don't know when it was placed there. It could be anypony. That's why I was asking about your brother. He might be able to help identify with who it is."

"I see. Well, I think he's on duty at the minute, but he gets off soon. I'll take you to his house when the time comes."

"Perfect. For the time being, I think I'm gonna go do some more snooping. Good to know we're all back on the same side though." Josh replied with a smile.

"What are you gonna do?" Asked Twilight.

"Nothing really. Just hopefully find some more contradictory evidence and maybe even question someone."

"Right. I'll start talking to my brother, see what I can arrange."

"Cool." Josh looked at Rainbow Dash. "Sleep tight, Skittles. We've got a battle to win tomorrow."

Twilight and Josh then proceeded to leave. "Hey, do you want this backpack back by the way?" He asked as he walked out.

Twilight shook her head. "You keep it. You've got more to carry than me."

"Thanks. I was kinda hoping you'd say that." Josh replied with a chuckle.

_**LATER THAT EVENING…**_

Night was beginning to fall upon Equestria. Josh had failed to find any other evidence to back up his theories. He managed to get a few questions answered by a couple of ponies, but didn't really gain any useful information.

He was walking through Canterlot with Twilight, as she was showing him the way to her brother's house. "Do you really think he'll be able to tell who wrote it just by the writing?" She asked.

"If he has to look at reports from them all every day, then I would think you'd be able to identify them via their writing. The same way a teacher can tell which student wrote what usually."

"I suppose your right. That must get repetitive though."

"Possibly…"

They walked for a few more minutes before they arrived at Shining Armour's house. Twilight walked up the steps and then raised her hoof to knock on the door.

There was a short delay, and then Josh heard steps coming towards the door. They got louder and louder and then the door swung open. "Twiley! C'mon on!" He exclaimed as he got out of the way to let them by.

Josh followed Twilight in. "Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked. "Please, sit down." He motioned towards a couch sitting by a fireplace.

"I'm fine thanks." Josh replied as he took a seat.

"Honey, who is it!?" Josh heard Cadence call from what sounded like upstairs.

"It's Twiley and Josh, remember!?" He called back up to her.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute!" She called back.

Shining Armour took a seat and then looked at Josh. "So, Twiley tells me you have something you wanted me to look at?"

"Oh yeah. This." Josh got the letter out. "Can you tell me who wrote it?" He asked as he handed it to him.

Shining Armour picked it up using magic and took a look at it. "Hm…why, who do you think wrote it?" He asked.

"Zhengyi." Josh stated.

Shining Armour raised an eyebrow. "You sure? It's about the Derby yesterday. I don't think he's involved with this charity."

"Actually, I don't think that charity exists at all." Josh replied. "I think that whole Derby was conveniently placed there by Zhengyi to provide an alibi for Rainbow Dash. But it failed. The reason he didn't want Rainbow Dash to be at the scene of the crime was because she wasn't under his influence, therefore he couldn't manipulate her like he did the others."

"Manipulate her? The others? What are you talking about?"

"I believe that since Zhengyi was the friend and colleague of the other witnesses, he used his influence over them to change their views on me and get them to lie accordingly. Thus making me look like I did it. That's why I was asking if that letter was written by Zhengyi."

Shining Armour glanced back at the letter and read the last few bits. "…No way…" He whispered to himself.

"What is it?"

"I…I think you're right…this is Zhengyi's writing allright…"

"Then that proves that he was trying to lure Rainbow Dash away, which should hopefully be enough to get some answers and have some more light shed on this case, but it doesn't help us much now. I believe this will help us more of we can decipher it."

Josh put down a handful of burnt shredded paper on the coffee table in front of them. "I can't make heads or tails of them. I was hoping that you could at least tell me who wrote it…or what's left of it…"

Shining Armour shuffled through the bits of paper, trying to make something of it. He shook his head. "It does seem awfully familiar…but I'm sorry. I don't know who wrote it."

"Damn. But can you at least tell us who SH is?"

"SH?"

"The initials on one of the pieces of paper. It says 'To: SH'. I was wondering if you could tell me who it was."

"I wouldn't know. There's probably a ton of ponies with those initials."

At that moment, a pink figure appeared from the stairs.

Josh stood up. "You must be Princess Cadence. Josh Valentine. A pleasure to meet you." He said.

"You too. You've been the word of everywhere recently."

"Yeah, I bet…" He replied.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Not unless you're any good at being a Detective." He replied with a chuckle.

"Well I do like puzzles...but I think I'll pass." She replied with a giggle. "But I'll be more than happy to help if you want it. I'll be in the kitchen." She said as she walked into the kitchen.

"So what do we do now Josh?" Asked Twilight.

"We explore the possibilities and narrow them down. Basically, let's try and sort this letter into order." He sat back down and leant over to get a good view of the pieces of paper.

"Sounds like a long evening…" Shining Armour replied.

"Yep. You know that offer for a drink when we first came in? I'll take a coffee now please." Josh said with a chuckle.

"Yeah sure, I'll do it." Shining Armour replied as he got up. "Twiley?"

"Uhh…pass." She replied.

"Right, we know this bit that says 'To: SH' has to go at the beginning. Because that's how you usually start a letter." Josh slid that bit to the top of the table, indicating the start.

"I agree…but…what comes next could be anything…" Twilight replied.

"Well then let's come up with some scenarios then. If we can think of some scenarios that the writer could've been put in, we may be able to figure out the order."

"Yeah, okay, but where do we start?"

"Hmm…" Josh looked at the pieces of paper... "…Well, this one says 'plot', and this one says 'ke over Equestria'. What's the first couple of words that come to mind that end with K E and in relation to the context of this letter?"

"…Take?"

"Precisely what I was thinking. Let's say that this one was supposed to say 'take over Equestria'. That means that so far we've got a 'plot' to 'take over Equestria'."

"And you think Zhengyi had something to do with this?"

"Maybe. But I'm not sure. We need to go on to find out more. Let's see, what next…"

"How about 'frame'?" Twilight suggested. " 'Frame' you for a 'plot' to 'take over Equestria.'"

"That's logical. Let's go with that." Josh replied. "That's probably what the main bulk of it said. But there's still little details that we might need to seal the deal. For example, where it said 'murder' was probably the start of a plan."

"Are you suggesting that somepony other than Zhengyi was involved in this?"

"Yes." Josh replied. "And I think that somepony was the pony who killed Eagle Eye. But we've got no leads and no clues, so there's no point in dwelling on that. I think it's something of mine this pony wanted, because it says 'get Josh's'. I don't know what I've got that anypony would want. And besides, if they wanted it, they could've just asked. Depending on what it was, I may have been happy to assist."

"I think it was something technological." Twilight replied. "Because there's a piece here that says 'technology'. I think this pony was trying to tell Zhengyi to 'Get Josh's' 'technology'."

"That is a possibility. But the only way that possibility could work was if that the pony who wrote this was an accomplice of Zhengyi."

"That's what I was saying." Twilight replied. "Why? Do you disagree?"

"I do, but we don't have much evidence at the moment. We could both be right, so it's best just not to argue and try and sort them out in some sort of logical order." Josh then had another look. "…Actually Twilight, I think I've got something."

"What?"

"'Bably dead'. 'Ding this'. I think they translate into 'probably dead' and 'reading this'. So this pony died shortly after he or she wrote this letter. He or she was 'probably dead' by the time we're 'reading this'. The only pony to die within the time period we're talking about is Eagle Eye."

"So your saying Eagle Eye wrote this?"

"I'm saying that's the most logical probability we have right now. But we have no proof. Hopefully Shining Armour can help us out a bit more by helping use decipher the writing."

"I already told you, I don't know." He said as he entered the room, 2 cups suspended in midair with his magic.

"Thank you." Josh said as he pulled the cup that was motioned to him out of midair. "But we need to know who wrote it, it could be vital to this case. And who is Lieutenant E?"

"Huh?"

"It's signed off by Lieutenant E. Who is he or she?"

Shining Armour shrugged. "Could be anypony. I can't remember everypony, yet alone their writing."

"Okay…then the least you could do is help us come up with some possibilities."

"Uh, okay, what have you got so far?"

"Well, we found out that somepony was trying to frame me by saying I had a plot to take over Equestria. We also found out that the pony who wrote this died shortly after writing it. It has something to do with the death of Eagle Eye, since it mentions murder. It also mentions something about Zhengyi .That's why I have come to the conclusion that there's another, maybe even a few other ponies involved in this that we don't know. We think that they were after some of my technology. Hence why it says 'get Josh's' and 'technology'…and that's as far as we got…oh, and something's 'futile' but we don't know what."

"…Uh-huh…I can think of a few things…"

"Is it possible to use magic to trace where a message came from? I think I know anyway."

Shining Armour shook his head. "Not that I know of. Why? Where do you think it came from?"

"The scene of the crime." Josh replied. "It had to. That was where I found it. It's also ripped unevenly and pretty badly burnt, giving the indication somepony wanted to get rid of it quickly."

"But they couldn't have been at the scene of the crime, Josh. Why send somepony a letter when you're in the same room as them?"

"Uhhh…crap. I thought I had something there."

"If we're going with your theory, then it had to be someone from outside the scene of the crime."

"But then we need to know who it is." Josh said then sighed. "We just keep going around in circles. But if what you're saying is true, then there must've been another murder taking place in another area, possibly outside of Canterlot."

"Well we can rule that out then. 'Cause if that happened, I'd know about it." Shining Armour replied. "But what about this 'is a' bit. What 'is a'? Where 'is a'? Who 'is a'? There are loads of possibilities with that one."

"I know what you mean. The only thing I can think of is that they were questioning where I was." Josh replied. He then suddenly had a brainwave. "Or where Rainbow Dash was. Or should've been."

"Why would they be looking for Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.

"Well…not sure. The only logical explanation is that Rainbow Dash was the initial target, but the chances of that being the case are very low, so I think we should disregard that…"

"Yeah, I agree." Twilight replied. "…And…now what…?"

"…I'm not sure. I'm fresh out of ideas. Think this is gonna require some more thinking."

And with that, a silence fell upon the room…

…

…

…

…

Josh quickly started taking large mouthful's of coffee. _'Well, looks like this is gonna be a long night…'_

_**A LONG TIME AND A FEW ARGUMENTS LATER…**_

They had been looking at the clues for hours now. Even Cadence tried to help. At this point, tempers really were flailing. Everypony was disagreeing with each other, and they had come to no real conclusion. They had a few scenarios which they could use for tomorrow's case, but nothing that was really convincible enough to hold water.

"But that's impossible! Not only would Rainbow Dash have to be in 2 places at once, but Zhengyi and Josh would have to be in 3!" Twilight exclaimed, rejecting Shining Armour's idea.

"Well I don't see you coming up with a better explanation!" He retorted.

"That's enough!" Josh shouted, causing the room to fall into silence. "I started this mess. I should be the one cleaning it up. And there's only 1 way to do that." He rose from the couch and headed for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Twilight asked as she proceeded to follow him.

"Home…" He replied then sighed.

"What!? But you never give up! Not now!"

He stopped. "I'm sorry Twilight, but this has been premeditated beyond belief. Any other evidence has been erased. It's impossible. There's only 1 thing left for me to do now; accept my fate."

"But you can't just give up! What about Rainbow Dash!?"

"Once I'm gone, Zhengyi should drop all charges." Josh replied. "I'll use the Antimatter Pods that fuel the Shuttle to create a subspace rupture. That should be enough to seal the wormhole."

"I was actually talking more about…you and Rainbow Dash…"

Josh sighed. "…Tell her…I'm sorry…"

"No! You can't just leave! There must be something you can do! Anything!"

"I'm sorry, Twilight. It's over. If I go to Court tomorrow, Zhengyi's gonna eat me alive. It will be easier on everypony if I just leave."

"…But…but…where will you go? You didn't want to go back to your normal life, did you?"

Josh turned his head to look out a window. "I'll probably go back to the universe we got the shuttle from."

"That Star Trek thing?"

"Correct. I could enlist in Starfleet Academy. Have a pretty good life. I could have my own ship within a few years."

"And then come back when this has all blown over?" Twilight suggested.

Josh shook his head. "I'm going to close that wormhole. It's doing more harm than good."

"…So…this'll be the last time we see each other…?"

"…Yes…" Josh replied, tears forming in his eyes. "Have a good life, Twilight Sparkle…" He said as he went towards the door.

"Yeah. You too…" Twilight replied. A tear fell from her cheek to the ground.

"Gee Twiley; he sounds nothing like who described in your letters." Shining Armour whispered to her, but Josh could still hear anyway.

"Yeah, who are you and what have you done with Josh Valentine?" She half joked. Wanting to be sarcastic, but not really in the mood.

Suddenly, Josh froze in place. Twilight's last words got his brain working in overdrive. His eyes widened as an idea hit him like a tidal wave. He felt his heart rate increase exponentially. _'How the hell did I not think of this!?'_

He spun around in place to face them. "THAT'S IT!" He shouted.

* * *

"_**What's it!?" I heard you ask. Well, you'll just have to tune in next to find out, won't you? ;)**_

_**I'm going to be taking a very short break from this story for the minute. I've got an awesome new MLP crossover in mind. I'll get the first chapter of that up and then get back on this. :)**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**_


	13. Let's Shed Some Light on the Subject

**Hey everypony. This chapter took much longer than expected. It's also a lot shorter than expected. I'll stop talking now. I'll explain at the end.**

* * *

"What's it!?" Twilight asked.

"I think I know what's going on." Josh replied as he rushed back to the table. "I can't believe I missed this." He looked at Shining Armour. "Armour, help me out here. Whoever wrote this, they're writing style is printing in block capitals. How many ponies do you know that write in block capitals?"

"Uhh…" He gasped as he now knew where Josh was going with this. "Not many…apart from…"

"Eagle Eye." Josh finished for him. He didn't know that, but from his reaction, he gathered that he was right. "She was trying to send this to you."

"How do you know that?"

"Because she prints in block capitals." Josh replied and pointed to the piece of paper that said 'To: SH'. "SH isn't the initials of the pony she was sending it to! It's the start of the Shining in Shining Armour!"

"…Okay, so what you're saying is that she was trying to send this to me?"

"Correct." Josh replied. "However, we've got the order of the letter wrong. The first part is right, she was 'probably dead' by the time we're 'reading this'. I think she was trying to warn us about a 'plot' to 'frame' me about 'taking over Equestria'. I know that's not exactly what that piece says, but bear with me. This is about to sound even more far-fetched. 'Zhengyi' 'is a' Changeling."

"Seriously!?" Twilight exclaimed. "How do you know!?"

"Think it through, Twilight. Murder never happens in Equestria. Then all of a sudden I come along and it happens. If it wasn't me, then I highly doubt it would be another pony. Unless there's any other shape-shifting species here in Equestria."

"Not that I know of." Twilight replied.

"But this just raises more questions. If you're saying Zhengyi is a Changeling, not only do you not have proof, but where's the real Zhengyi?" Shining Armour asked.

"That's what I was just about to ask you to help me with." Josh replied. "I want you to find get me some of Zhengyi's documents from between just before I arrived in Equestria to now. Reports, personal logs, requests, approvals, absolutely anything."

"Uhh…okay…uh…there might be a little problem with that; there are a lot of them. And I mean A LOT."

"Okay, I'll have to have a look tomorrow. I'm going to confront Zhengyi tomorrow about it outside of court."

"But we've got one more problem Josh; how do we get Zhengyi to prove he's a Changeling?"

"I highly doubt he'll openly admit it, but leave that to me. I've got a trick I can play."

"But how do you know you're right?" Shining Armour asked.

"It's better than anything else we've come up with. Seriously, 3 brains and we were completely stumped. This is the most positive thing we've had all night."

"Are you sure you wanna follow it? You're gonna look like a big idiot if you're wrong." Shining Armour explained.

"I'm positive." Josh replied with a nod. "I only want to show him the letter Eagle Eye wrote in Court. If I show it to him outside, it's likely he'll make it 'disappear' as he's done with probably tons of other evidence. I'll ask him about it tomorrow before Court."

"Why not in Court? Where we could get the whole thing done and dusted?" Suggested Twilight.

"No. I think there's more going on here than what we can see. I want to get to the bottom of this. If we shut the door too quickly, we may not have a chance."

"Why? What do you think is going on?"

"The letter makes it seem like he was after some of my technology. I want to know what he plans to do with it. And if he's already got it. Anyway, I think now we've got this settled, we should be getting some sleep. It's almost midnight."

"I agree. Looks like we've got a big day tomorrow." Twilight replied. She then looked at her brother. "Be there tomorrow."

"I will." He replied then gave her a hug. She hugged back.

The 2 of them released each other then Josh and Twilight got up in unison. "Goodnight, Shining." Josh said as he headed for the door.

"Goodnight, Josh." Shining Armour replied.

Twilight and Josh headed out the door and back to where they were staying in the Castle.

_**THE NEXT DAY**_

Clouds we're gathering over Canterlot. And in more than one way. It was looking pretty overcast that morning. But the Court House was bustling with activity.

Josh was walking towards Zhengyi's preparation room. He had told Twilight to stay back in the Defence preparation room 'just in case'…

He pushed through the door. Zhengyi appeared to be lying right back in his chair almost half asleep.

Josh deliberately did a loud overdramatic clearing of his throat to grab Zhengyi's attention. Zhengyi shook his head as he was brought out of his daydream. "Oh, it's you. Anything I can help you with?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Josh replied. He sat down in a chair next to Zhengyi and then presented the letter Spitfire gave him. "How do you explain this!?"

Zhengyi flinched slightly as he saw it, but immediately regained his composure. "What about it?"

"You wrote it, didn't you?" Josh stated.

Zhengyi remained quiet for about 5 seconds. Then he started chuckling. "Well yeah, I suppose I did." He then shrugged. "But what pray tell does this prove?"

"It was supposed to be Rainbow Dash's alibi, wasn't it?" He replied. "You 'persuaded' the previous witnesses to lie to cover up something! And you knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn't leave my side, so you needed to make a reason for her not to be there! But it failed. That's why you initially protested against Rainbow Dash testifying! And that's why you let me accuse her! Because it meant she was out of the way! And it just so happens that me and Twilight couldn't remember anything because Twilight was hit with a magic blast and I got knocked out. I think I was knocked out allright. But not by force. By magic that also erased my memory!"

"What makes you say that!?" Zhengyi said, looking and sounding a little uneasy.

"When I re-examined the crime scene yesterday, I saw the wheel that you said caused the blinding light. I touched it. It was still hot."

"Gah…"

"Now I don't think it would've retained that heat for a whole day. It was burned recently wasn't it!? In other words, you hit both me and Twilight with a magic blast that knocked us out and erased our memories! And you then burnt the wheel to make it looked like what you said happened in Court happened!"

Zhengyi looked gobsmacked. "B-but…I…you…urk…"

"Zhengyi, you murdered Eagle Eye, didn't you? You set me up so it looked like I murdered her. Then with me gone, you could get something of mine you wanted. What's that? Well, I guess it would have to be my technology, since it's the only logical thing worth stealing from me."

Zhengyi looked as if he was about to punch Josh around the face. Then he regained his composure and cleared his throat. He slumped back in his chair and a smile crept across his face. "I'm not going to deny SOME of your claims, Mr. Valentine. And I'm also not going to deny not having something to do with Eagle Eye's death…"

Josh rose from his chair. "Then I hope you like what you're about to receive in Court."

"You mean victory? Of course I'll like that." He replied.

Josh turned to leave. "You haven't a cat in hells chance of winning when this gets out." He started walking towards the door.

"Quite right. Which is why it isn't going to get out." He replied, making Josh freeze. "Mr. Valentine, you aren't going to tell a soul about this."

"…We'll see about that…" Josh replied as he continued walking.

"Oh really?" Zhengyi asked. "It was my understanding that this universe was entirely created from a fictional story back in your world. Tell me Mr. Valentine, how old are you?"

Josh froze. "…Just shy of 17…"

"And what age group was this TV show meant for?" He asked. "Could you please try and explain this whole 'Brony' thing to me? I still fail to see how a form of entertainment designed not only for the opposite gender but for an age group not even into double figures entertaining."

Josh spun around 180 degrees. "How did you-"

He saw that Zhengyi was suspending his flash drive just in front of him. Josh gasped in realization. He tried to grab it, but Zhengyi moved it away too quickly. "Uh, uh, uh. Wouldn't want to be caught lifting evidence, would you?"

"…I'll trade with you. I'll give you this letter for that flash drive." He asked, sounding kind of desperate. "It's a win-win for both of us, huh? Your secret doesn't get let out, and neither does mine."

'_So that's what it's called. A 'flash' 'drive'…' _Zhengyi thought. "Ha! That one's not gonna work on me, Mr. Valentine." Zhengyi replied. "Although I will offer another deal; forfeit the Trial, I'll come to your house, you give me what I want, and then you leave your fantasy."

"No deal." Josh said blatantly. "But I won't release your secret if you don't release mine."

"…Hmm…sure thing. It's just a matter of who'll keep up their end of the bargain first."

"We're about to find out." Josh replied, looking at the clock and seeing it was almost time for the Trial to start. He walked back out the door and got the Tricorder he had sitting in his pocket for all this time. _'I was wondering when you we're gonna become useful. I was considering leaving you back in my room at the Castle. Glad I didn't now.'_ He thought as he started entering parameters into it.

He walked into the Defence preparation room, where he found Twilight taking another look at Eagle Eye's letter. "Did you find out what you needed?" She asked.

"Yes." Josh replied as he helped her gather up everything to take into the Courtroom. "We're not gonna use the letter Spitfire gave me anymore."

"Why not? That's the only way to prove Rainbow Dash-"

"This isn't about Rainbow Dash anymore. It's more than that now. He's a you-know-what remember?"

"Yeah, but surely it would help?"

"No. Not yet."

"But still, you've gotta prove that he's a Changeling. How you gonna do that?"

"Leave that to me." Josh replied as he waved his Tricorder at her. "I've got a trick up my sleeve. Just wait." He said with a wink. "I'm pretty sure I've told you this already, but I'll say again. This is called a Tricorder. It's from the Star Trek universe we went into. It's a type of scanning device. I'm going to use it to scan Zhengyi in the Courtroom."

"What good will that do?"

"Oh just watch and learn, Twilight." He replied with a smile. They then proceeded into the Courtroom.

_**\/\/\/\/**_

The Courtroom echoed with voices. They all ceased when the Judge banged his gavel. "Court is back in session for the trial of Josh Valentine."

"The Prosecution is ready, Your Honour." Zhengyi stated.

"The Defence is ready, Your Honour." Josh said after him.

"Mr. Valentine, yesterday you casted suspicion on another suspect. Since you've now had more time for investigating, what are your thoughts on your suspicion?"

"…The Defence would like to hold those suspicions for the time being. But I still have some unanswered questions. To answer them, the Defence would like to call Zhengyi to the stand."

Zhengyi shrugged and got out of his seat. He headed towards the stand.

Josh nudged Twilight underneath the table, drawing her attention. She saw him hitting a few buttons on his Tricorder. He then put it in the left inside pockets of his suit.

As he got up, he crossed his arms, but in a way so that his right hand still snuck into his pocket. But it looked completely normal, so there was no way to tell.

Josh then started walking towards Zhengyi on the stand. "You claim you were in the bathroom the entire duration of the incident." Josh stated, walking past him.

"Yes, that is correct." He replied.

Josh came around and perched on the right hand side of the stand. "Did it not occur to you that something was happening and you might wanna find out?"

"Well yeah, but I was…y'know…busy…"

"Right, right…but you saw nothing, am I correct?"

Zhengyi nodded. "I only viewed the point where you got knocked out."

"…Very well…you may return now…"

"Was there a problem, Mr. Valentine?" Zhengyi asked.

"…Only a personal suspicion. Not relevant to the current case." Josh replied.

Zhengyi smiled. "Good choice." He mouthed and winked.

"What purpose did that have then, Mr. Valentine?" The Judge asked.

"…I'm sorry, Your Honour. It didn't have any." Josh replied as he sat back down behind his desk. "I have found more evidence, but it's still being prepared and not ready at this moment in time. To be frank, I'm kinda embarrassed. I wanted to request another delay in the trial."

"Another delay? Of how long?"

"Uhh…6 hours…"

"6 hours!? My word that is a big delay! What is the reason for this!?"

"I did find evidence yesterday Your Honour, but I didn't have time to prepare it. Give me 6 hours and I'll have it ready for you."

"Hmmm…Mr. Zhengyi, what are your thoughts on this?"

"If this is the final outburst of Mr. Valentine, then I think we should agree. I'm going to enjoy laughing at this. However, the Prosecution will only agree on 1 condition; if this 'evidence' still fails to prove Mr. Valentine's innocence, he forfeits the trial and gets a guilty verdict right there and then."

"What are you doing Josh!?" Twilight demanded. "We could get this done right here right now! Don't do it!"

"The Defence agrees with Mr. Zhengyi's terms." Josh replied, ignoring Twilight.

"Very well, I will suspend proceedings until 6 hours time. Court is adjourned!" The Judge declared and banged his gavel. Everypony started muttering among themselves whilst they proceeded to leave.

"Josh, what was all that about?" Twilight demanded.

"Get your brother and meet me at the hospital." He replied, ignoring her question. He then turned to leave.

"Wait! That didn't answer my question!"

"No time to explain, just do it." Josh replied.

"But-"

"Now Twilight!" Josh then proceeded towards the exit.

He knew where the hospital was. He passed it on one of his walks. It wasn't that far of a walk from the Court.

It was pretty much what you would expect from a hospital. Nothing really fancy. Painted walls with a blue carpet. A waiting room. And a reception desk at the back of the room.

Josh made his way towards the reception desk that a pony was sitting behind. "Get me a Doctor. Or Nurse. Whoever's free. Immediately." He demanded.

"Excuse me? Is it an emergency?"

"Not particularly. I'm just a little pressed for time. Is anyone free?"

"Uh…I'll go have a look…" She replied as she headed for the door behind the desk.

Josh rested his elbows on the desk. At which point, Twilight and Shining Armour entered the building. "Okay Josh, what was that all about? Why did you not end it then and there?" Twilight demanded.

"I took a medical scan of Zhengyi. I just need somepony to see if they're common readings on a pony. That's why we're here. The receptionist is getting a Doctor now."

"But why didn't you finish it up then!? Proving Zhengyi's not Zhengyi comes later!"

Josh shook his head. "The evidence we had may have pointed out a contradiction, but how exactly does that rule me and Rainbow Dash out of the murder?" Josh shrugged. "It doesn't. This is our last hope."

"But you could've at least said something! You made us look like unprepared imbeciles!"

"…A price that had to be paid…"

"…Fine! But this better be worth it! And please warn me the next time you're gonna embarrass me like that!"

At that moment, a Pegasus with a white coat and a short blue mane and tail walked out. "Good morning, I'm Nurse Aide. Please follow me." **(Pronounced "Aid-E")**

Josh followed her down the corridor and through a door on the left hand side with her name on it. inside the room, it was pretty normal from what you'd expect from a hospital. There were seats, a bed with a nightstand beside it, and a desk at the other end for the nurse.

"Please take a seat." Aide said as she did so herself at her desk.

Josh sat down. "Name?" She asked as she picked up a quill.

'_How does she not know my name?'_ "Actually, I'm not here for a medical examination. I was wondering if you could help me with something."

She dropped the quill. "Help you with what?" She asked.

Josh presented his Tricorder to her. "This is a scanning device I used to take a medical scan of a pony today. I was wondering if you could take a look at the results and tell me if said pony is healthy or not."

"Oh…okay…"

Josh hit a button then gave it to her. "You press this button to scroll down, and this one to scroll up." He instructed, pointing to the relevant buttons.

She started looking at the data Josh had gathered. It didn't take her long to become shocked. "…This pony…shouldn't even be alive…" She said.

'_Yes! That must mean I'm right!'_ "How so?" Josh asked, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.

"These readings are either too high or too low…are you sure your equipment isn't defective?"

"Pretty sure. Why? What kind of readings do they show?"

"The heartbeat is way too high. Any normal pony would have a heart attack at that level. And the blood pressure is high enough to cause brain damage. And his body temperature's way too low. I'm surprised he isn't frozen like a Popsicle."

"That reading is in degrees Celsius by the way." Josh replied. He thought that since My Little Pony was an American show, they would use the imperial measuring system.

"Oh. Well that makes sense." Nurse Aide replied. "Either way though, he's still at a pretty unhealthy low temperature. But…wait a minute…this makes no sense…his respiration rate is far too low for the other readings I'm getting. They contradict each other."

'_Oh trust me Lady; any contradiction will be helpful right now.'_ "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying he's very ill. Maybe not even going to live much longer. Basically more or less everything in this scan is too high, too low, or wrong in general."

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know. Thank you." Josh replied as he reached for his Tricorder. Aide didn't resist as he took it.

"Are you sure? I think he needs serious medical attention."

"I'll sort it all out. Don't you worry." Josh replied with a smile as he stood up. "But thanks for your concern." He turned to leave. Twilight and Shining Armour followed him through and out of the hospital.

"Okay, what was that all about? How does that help?" Twilight asked.

"Didn't you hear what she said? If Zhengyi were a pony, he should be dead with vital signs like that. That means he's not a pony."

"Possibly."

"Possibly? I think definitely."

"So what do we do now?" Asked Shining Armour.

Josh looked at him. "I'd love to say bring him in, but first we need to find the real Zhengyi."

"But we don't even know where to start." Twilight exclaimed.

He looked at her. "Well, I know where to start." He replied. He looked at Shining Armour. "Remember how I was asking you about his records? That's why. I want to see all of his documents between now and just before I arrived in Equestria."

"Uh, okay. We'll have to go to my office. That's where all the latest stuff will be kept. Might take a while to look through though. Unless there's anything in particular you're looking for."

"I'm looking for strange unexplained anomalies. Like a sudden change in subject, or a change in routine, or a date where he covered a substantially higher distance than his regular. Stuff like that."

"Uh-huh, I get it. Might take some reading though." Shining Armour replied.

"Then we better get there quick. We've only got 5 and a half hours remaining. Then we need to find Zhengyi in that time too."

"Right. Follow me." Shining Armour replied as he took the lead.

He led them through Canterlot, up through the Castle, and into his office. It was a relatively small office. A chair behind a desk with loads of things scattered across it. At the opposite end was a filing cabinet. And a couple of chairs in front of it for guests. The walls were a navy blue colour and the floor was just wooden. "If I've got anything of use, it'll be in that filing cabinet." He stated and pointed.

"Okay, thank you." Josh replied as he headed for it. He opened it up and looked at the tabs. It appeared to be grouped into names and the contents of that pony's file were in chronological order.

"Okay Twilight, take a look in this drawer and see if you can find anything on Eagle Eye. I'll look in the bottom one for Zhengyi's."

"Why do we want any of Eagle Eye's information?" Twilight asked as she looked into the drawer for the file.

"I'm just trying to make connections." Josh replied as he bought out Zhengyi's file from the bottom drawer. "If we can find a motive, it might make us look at this case in a whole new way. Also it'll make it that much easier."

"You want some of Eagle Eye's documents aswell?" Shining Armour asked. "Now she's dead, all of her personal documents are released. With the families permission of course. Do you want me to get them for you?" He offered.

"Hmmm…" Josh looked at Twilight. "Should we?"

"I don't know." Twilight replied as she found Eagle Eye's file and bought it out. "I don't know what it might have in it that could be useful."

"…I think it might come in useful…we'll take it." Josh said to Shining Armour.

"Allright," he replied with a nod, "I'll be as quick as I can. Stay here." He then turned to exit the office.

Josh took Zhengyi's file and laid it out on the desk. "Right, now let's take a look." He started reading from the latest ones back through to the oldest ones. "…Well, there's not much to work with here, mainly because there's barely anything here. I thought Shining Armour said there was a lot?"

"Maybe Zhengyi's been too busy to fill in reports for the past few days?" Twilight suggested as she hopped onto a chair besides Josh and opened up Eagle Eye's file up.

"I think you're right." Josh replied. "Let's try doing this the opposite way. I'll start a month before I arrived in Equestria. That should give us a sense of what's the norm and what's not."

"I agree." Twilight replied.

Josh started reading from the beginning. "Hmm…seems pretty solid to me. Daily reports, some personal logs. But there's one thing for certain; I'm seeing Eagle Eye's name being mentioned a lot here, so there's obviously a connection here somewhere."

"Do you think Eagle Eye was a Changeling too? That she died on purpose?"

Josh shook his head. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't consider that possibility. But I don't think that's gonna be the most likely. Plus, if she were a Changeling, that would've been covered in the Autopsy Report."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right…hey, Zhengyi's mentioned a lot in Eagle Eye's file as well."

"As suspected. I don't see why he shouldn't be considering there's lots of mentioning on her in his aswell. Anything fishy in there?"

"Nope, not really. A lot of praise for her though. Putting her in for recommendations."

"Recommendations? Funny. There's no mention of recommendations in Zhengyi's. But then again, I suppose that isn't necessary in these."

"Look at the personal logs, they're much more detailed." Twilight replied.

Josh flicked to one of the personal logs of Zhengyi…

…

"…Twilight, I think I just figured out where the real Zhengyi is. Look at this."

Josh moved the file slightly to his left so Twilight could see. Twilight looked over his shoulder.

Josh cleared his throat as he began to read. "Zhengyi Personal Log, August 14th, 1022. 1022? Isn't that-"

"Princess Celestia's current age? Yes. You see, we don't know exactly what year this is, so we just go with the Princess's age as to what year it is."

"But isn't her birthday on August 30th? Wouldn't that mess up your system?"

"By your standards, yes. But our years begin in September and end in August. That erases all complications."

"But there's 31 days in August. What do you do with the extra day?"

"That's an Equestria-wide holiday. It's used to celebrate the end of the year and the start of a new one."

"Ah right, I see. Anyway, I think I got a little sidetracked. Let's get back on topic, shall we?" Josh cleared his throat to begin reading again.

"I learned today about a new species arriving in Equestria. He calls himself a Human. I, as usual, was very suspicious about this. I called for extra precautionary measures to be taken, but I was denied as we didn't have enough ponypower to get it done. I tried pushing harder for it, but it never happened. In the end, I decided that it was just me being paranoid and tried to get it off my mind. But then I received a mysterious message when I went to get a coffee during my break. It said that my suspicions were true and that this Human was indeed not what he was made out to be. It also stated that I should meet with others that were planning to reveal his true motives at the Everfree Forest at 7PM. Why there, I do not know. And I have a feeling that it is a trap. I tried to get somepony to come with me, but nopony would. Nevertheless, I shall proceed on my own. My shift ends at 5:30PM. That gives me enough time to grab a bite to eat and then travel to the Everfree Forest. I just hope I'm back in time for the evening me and Eagle Eye have been planning for a while now…"

Josh flicked the page over. "And his next entry is the only one the next day. And that was compulsory. Something must've happened to him in the forest that evening. And whatever it was, it left a big gap in the log."

"I've noticed something aswell, Josh." Twilight said, flicking through Eagle Eye's file. "From that day, August 14th, Eagle Eye's entries get shorter and shorter. I'm not expert, and I'm no psychiatrist, and I know it's difficult to interpret through written words, but from the way they get shorter and snappier every single day, it seems as if she's a bit…well…ticked off…"

"And I think I know why." Josh replied. "In Zhengyi's entry, he states 'I just hope I'm back in time for the evening me and Eagle Eye have been planning for a while now'.-"

"He stood her up?" Twilight blurted out, interrupting Josh.

"Precisely." Josh replied. "But Zhengyi didn't stand her up. 'Zhengyi' stood her up."

"Wait, are you saying that Changelings captured Zhengyi that evening and then switched places with them?"

"Yes." Josh replied. "Where are the Changelings based anyway?"

"To tell you the truth, we haven't got a clue. We think they're based underground. But we have no evidence of ever seeing any of their settlements."

"I see. A-"

Suddenly, Shining Armour came back through the door, panting a bit. "We're you running?" Josh asked.

"A little." He said with a chuckle. "I tried to get some of her personal documents, but… turns out she barely has any!" He got a book out from one of the pockets on his uniform and presented it to Josh. "This is similar to the personal logs you've probably seen reading through those, but this is her private one. It's more based upon out of work. Like a diary."

"…Well, isn't this a coincidence? It's actually something I was hoping for." Josh replied, taking it from Shining Armour's magic aurora.

"It is? Why?"

"Just a little suspicion I have." Josh replied as he opened up the book and started heading to the dates he needed.

"What's that?" Asked Twilight.

"Changelings feed off love don't they?"

"Yeah…?" Twilight gasped as she knew where Josh was going with this. "Do you think that they were…seeing each other?"

"Well, the evidence that they were seeing each other is clear. I was just wondering if they were any feelings between them…" Josh looked back down at the book and continued flicking through the pages. He wanted to find the page where Zhengyi's name was first mentioned.

"Shining Armour, do you know roughly when Zhengyi was assigned to you?"

"Uhh…not exactly. A few weeks ago maybe? Possibly 2? I'm not sure, somewhere around there."

Josh nodded in acknowledgement and continued reading. "Aha. Found it. July 25th ring a bell?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Shining Armour replied.

Josh cleared his throat to begin reading from the book. "I met a new guy on our detachment today. He goes by the name of Zhengyi. He's got quite a cocky attitude, and he always thinks he's right."

"Yep. That's Zhengyi." Shining Armour added.

"To be honest, I think he's kinda cute. I can see resemblance to somepony else I know, but I can't quite put my hoof on it."

"That would be Admiral Fortress. His father. That's how he got in anyway. He persuaded his father to let him in."

Josh quickly skim-read the rest of it, because he found no other mentions of Zhengyi in it. Once he was happy, he turned the page and continued reading at the first mention of Zhengyi.

"It was a pretty normal day, I was assigned my shifts, and that was that. However, it just so happened that this new guy, Zhengyi, was assigned to the same shift as me. He started talking to me. I wasn't really sure how to keep up the conversation though. I'm not shy, but I am…quiet… _'I was wondering why she was a little quiet on the first trial…'_ But I managed to keep it up. He was actually a very nice pony. Although he's somewhat clumsy and full of lame puns and pickup lines. He invited me to a coffee during our break. I had nothing better to do, so I accepted."

"Oh boy, here we go." Shining Armour said.

"You said it, bro. Wonder how good he is getting her from work to bed."

"I doubt that very much." Shining Armour replied, making both of them chuckle.

"Guys!" Twilight exclaimed with a not so amused look on

her face.

"…Ahem, sorry, we got distracted."

"Yeah, I guessed." She replied then sighed. "Males; no matter what universe they come from or what species they are, they're all the same."

Josh picked up where he left off. He was about to start reading the next entry, but then he realised how long it was. "Uhh…Shining, is there a reason for this parts length?"

"Dunno. What's the date?"

"July 28th."

"July 28th? That was the date of Rear Admiral Silverback's birthday. There was a huge party and a lot of…adventures…"

"Ah. She's probably got her own stories that she's wrote down in here. I'll just pick out the key bits that involve Zhengyi." Josh scanned the page with his eyes looking for Zhengyi's name then backtracking a few lines.

"I was having a rather good time. It was a very nice evening. There was some quite fast tempo'd Jazz music in the background. There were a few dozen ponies dancing in the middle of the hall. I was sitting at a table having a drink with a few of my friends. We were having a great time, but most of them were just talking about each other's dresses. It was allright at the start, but got pretty dull very quick. Then I see Zhengyi walking towards me. I didn't take any notice of it, because I'm sure it wasn't me he was interested in, so I looked back around to speak another few sentences in my conversation. When I next looked, he was standing at the table edge. It startled me a bit, but it didn't show. "Care to dance?" He asked.

Snow, one of my friends, immediately shot to her hooves and told him to buck off. " She's not interested. So politely, buck off." Where her very words.

"I wasn't talking to you." He replied. He then pointed his hoof at me. "I was talking to her." "

"Well, he plays his cards quite quickly, don't'cha think?" Josh asked Shining Armour.

Shining Armour shrugged both shoulders simultaneously in the way you would say 'maybe, maybe not, maybe, maybe not'. "Well…he's got guts, I'll give him that…but I don't think he's got… 'cards'…"

"But he still must've pulled it off. Otherwise we wouldn't even be here…sly dog…"

"Guys!" Twilight complained. "Is this what every guy thinks about when the opposite gender is mentioned."

"Yep." Josh and Shining Armour spoke at the same time.

"…" Twilight facehoofed. "Just keep reading…" She replied in defeat.

Josh picked up where he left off. "My heart started racing. Snow was telling me to ignore him, along with a few others, but I heard 1 or 2 voices behind me egging me to go. In the end, I just did was I would've done anyway: I went with him.

We walked towards the dance floor and he told me to stay where I was and he'd be right back. I wondered where he was going, but he then went up to the stage where the band was playing. I immediately felt a wave of embarrassment come over me, as I started worrying that he was gonna have me sing with him. Then all of a sudden the music stopped. I thought he was about to say something, but then the band started playing a different tune. He then hopped back down and came back towards me.

"This is one of my favourites." He said as he grabbed my hooves. I didn't resist as he pulled me up and took the lead. I'm not gonna lie, he wasn't the best dancer in Equestria. Most of the time he was trying to do something completely out of his league that made him look like an idiot. And he was useless at making small talk. Then again, so am I, so I can't argue there. But I enjoyed the dance. It was just, in its own weird way…perfect. That was the last song they played that night. After that, somepony made a small speech and ended it with "now let's let the party begin!" And then some ear-piercing club music started blasting throughout the whole hall. When that happened, I saw Zhengyi running away with his friends to party. Typical male; when the party starts, there's no stopping them."

"Damn right." Josh remarked as he skim read the rest of the way through. "Zhengyi's mentioned a lot throughout the next few pages. I think it's safe to say she sees him a lot."

"Undeniably." Shining Armour replied. "But what is it that you wanted to see?"

"Let's take a look closer to the date I arrived in Equestria." Josh said as he skipped forward a few pages. _'This would be so much damn easier if I downloaded it into the computer…'_

"Mmmm…okay, here's the date I arrived in Eque—whoa, wasn't expecting that. There's an entry here labelled 1AM."

"1AM? What's she doing writing at 1AM?" Twilight asked.

"That's rich coming from you, Twiley!" Shining Armour replied. Josh couldn't help but smile.

"Shut up, Shining." She retorted.

Josh started to read the entry. "Okay, so it's 1AM. I should be asleep, but I can't sleep. I can't stop thinking about Zhengyi. And I think I know why; I've been thinking about him more and more ever since I started working with him. I found myself thinking about him at times when I was usually thinking about other things. I soon found myself missing his company when we were off duty. At first was confused about these feelings, but then I finally realised it: I love him. And I'm certain he feels the same way about me. It would explain a lot, like the random gifts, the invitations to hang around with him, and the way he just acts differently when I'm around. We're going out tomorrow night for a picnic – or tonight I should say, as it's past midnight – it's supposed to be a nice warm evening tomorrow, so we're going to go and sit on a hilltop to watch the stars. He also said he had 'something special' to tell me. The perfect words. The perfect setting. Just perfect…"

Josh tried to turn the page, but the next one seemed to be stuck together by something. He blew in between the pages to loosen it a bit, and then gently prised them apart. There was a dark mark in the middle of the pages that indicated that they had been in contact with liquid at some point. "An ink spillage?" Josh suggested.

Twilight shook her head. "It's not dark enough to be ink."

"Yeah, you're right." Josh then bought the book to his face and sniffed it. "It's got no smell to it, so it can't be a drink. Unless you drink a tasteless, smell-less liquid here in Equestria. And don't just say water."

"Well, it could just be water. Its smell-less, it's tasteless. Maybe she just spilled a glass of water." Shining Armour suggested.

"She can't have done. If she spilled a glass, I think this book would be completely drenched from cover to cover. Also, if you look at the area of the spillage, the glass would've had to fall slap-bang in the centre of the page. The only way that would've happened is if she'd be resting the glass on the next page of a book. Why would she be doing that? She'd leave a watermark on the page."

"Well why don't you tell me what it is then?" Twilight asked.

"Uhh…not sure…"

"Why don't you try this?" Twilight replied, tapping the Tricorder on Josh's belt. "You're Tricorder. That's what it's called right? It's a complicated scanning device. Can you use it to figure it out?"

Josh shrugged. "If it's native to Equestria, it's most likely not on the database. But I'll give it a shot." He drew it out and flipped it open like an old Motorola flip-up phone. It immediately started beeping and relaying data to him. "Ah. I think I get it now."

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"It shares the same chemical compound as a tear."

"…Ohhh…" The 3 of them didn't even need to speak to each other. They could already piece together the information in their own minds.

But Josh decided to read on anyway, just out of curiosity. "I had everything ready. I had prepared everything. Nothing could've gone wrong. The evening was supposed to be just perfect. And what did he do? He stood me up. I sat on the hillside for half an hour before I realised he wasn't coming. At first I thought that there would be a legitimate reason, but I began to doubt it more and more every second…

The next day, I tried to ask him about it, but he acted as if he'd never met me before. He wasn't as open when I asked him questions. He didn't buy me lunch like he usually did. He constantly asked for me to stop getting in his way. He was just downright rude. I can only think of one reason why he's acting like this: He knows the way I feel about him, but he doesn't feel the same way. So he changed his personality to avoid having to tell me directly."

Josh knew he didn't even need to bother reading the last few pages, so he didn't. He just flicked through them and summarised them. "Seems like they grew further and further apart right up to her death." He then closed the book. "But she never wrote any suspicions she might've had down in here. I guess she must've kept those in her head. Or by the time she figured it out, it was too late."

"But HOW did she figure it out?" Shining Armour asked.

"I don't know. And to be frank, all I care about right now is that she did. We've only got 1 thing left to do now; we've got to go find the real Zhengyi."

* * *

**Like I said, this chapter was supposed to be much MUCH longer. But I cut it down due to my lack of updates recently. This should've been done a long time ago, but my College work has suddenly skyrocketed. Also, I am playing a part in a Star Trek fan series. I'm playing the Helmsmen, and I'm also helping with the writing/plot, and I am in charge of design. So that's gonna take up a lot of my time. We're not starting filming until next year, but there's a lot of design stuff I've got to be doing before then.** **That, and I've got racing to do.**

**I'll try my hardest to write more, but I can't promise anything. So don't be expecting too much for a while. I like to set myself a target of writing 1000 words a day, but I don't think I can do that. But I shall give up some of my free time/procrastination time to write more. :)**

**Thanks guys,**

**Josh**


	14. Time to Get to the Bottom of This

_**Hey Everypony. Whew. What a crazy past couple of weeks its been for me. I haven't updated since...November 3rd!? Wow, it has been a while! But hopefully the length of this chapter should make up for it. :)**_

_**Now to be honest, I'm not exactly pleased with this chapter. In all honesty, It think it's a bit crap. But it's the best I can do in my current condition. I might consider coming back and rewriting it. It just seems too rushed to me...**_

_**Don't forget to review! :)**_

* * *

Josh was just grabbing some final things from his house to go and find Zhengyi with. He had changed his clothes to something a bit more suitable for the trek. He wore mostly leather. He loved leather, it was his favourite material. And all in black. He wore black cargo trousers along with a black T-shirt. He then put on his biggest leather jacket along with some steel toe-capped boots he rarely wore. He then put on some leather gloves.

"You ready?" Twilight asked.

"Just about." Josh replied. "Standard issue for an Away Team Mission. Think I'm good to go." He rubbed along his waistline, checking his belt.

Twilight half smiled. "You really need to show me Star Trek when this all blows over."

"Will do. But for now, let's go and find Zhengyi. I have no idea where to start."

"Neither do I. That forest isn't exactly safe."

"I'm around. We'll be fine." Josh replied. "Let's go." He said as he grabbed a leather jacket off the banister and opened the door.

To his surprise, he found Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Spike waiting on his driveway. "Guys, you don't have to come. It's too dangerous."

"Pard'ner, we ain't leavin' ya side fer 1 sec 'till th' sheep are in th' pen." Applejack declared.

"She's right! We'd never leave you hangin' Josh!" Pinkie added.

"I usually detest going to such places, but it seems my support is required." Rarity added in.

"…Well…I…I can't. I can't have you guys come. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don' want US t' git hurt? What about you?" Applejack replied.

"I'll be fine; it's you guys I'm worried about." Josh replied. "Twilight and I can manage on our own. We've got to be back soon anyway."

"No-can-do, pard'ner. Ah can't jus' stand 'ere while ya go a'walkin' in t' trouble. Like it or not, Ah'm comin'."

'…_This is a bad idea…I should really say no…'_ "Allright, but don't wander too far. We don't know where we're going, so we might get lost a lot."

"Okie-dokie-lokie! We'll stick to you like bees to honey! Hey, do you like honey!? 'Cause I like honey!" Everyone began to follow Josh out the door, ignoring Pinkie Pie's ramble.

They walked past Fluttershy's house and through to the entrance to the Everfree Forest. "Hey, you know what strikes me as weird?" Josh asked, suddenly finding something suspicious. "Why didn't you see anypony around the time of Zhengyi's capture, Fluttershy? He'd have to go past your house to get to the entrance. Did you not see anypony?"

"Um…no, no I didn't. Honestly. Was I supposed to? I'm sorry…"

"Err…that's okay. Just a thought that's all…"

They pushed on into the Everfree Forest. Even in broad daylight it was pretty dark and grim. The ground was soft and slippery. A pungent swampy smell penetrated their nostrils. And it was quietly intimidating.

"So where do we go from here?" Twilight asked.

"Forward." Josh replied.

"…Right…do you even know where you're going?"

"No. But if we get lost, I got this." Josh replied, tapping the Tricorder on his belt. "Anyway, I don't think they would choose to settle in a dense area. Let's try and find somewhere that's not so packed. Fluttershy, can you fly up and see where to go?"

"…I-I-of course."She slowly flew directly up into the air. She looked around for a little bit and then dropped back down. "There's a clearing that way. It's a short walk though. Is that allright?"

"Perfect." Josh replied as he started walking.

They followed the direction indicated by Fluttershy. It wasn't very far. Maybe 800 meters max. The trees cleared up a bit and it was a bit brighter. There was a tall hill at the end of the clearing that extended above the tree line.

"Hmm…I still don't know the best route we should take. Let's think about t-" He suddenly felt his Tricorder being lifted from his belt.

He looked to his left to see Twilight had taken it and was using it. "Why didn't we do this in the first place?" She asked.

"Because it's not as simple as it looks." Josh replied.

Twilight didn't respond and simply started pressing buttons. "Hmm…why's it not working…? What does all this mean…?"

Josh looked at it. "There's something blocking the scans at a 20 meter radius. It looks like it's occurring naturally. Not a lot we can do about-" Twilight suddenly started fast-walking up to the hill in front of them "…That…" Josh and the others followed her.

She climbed to the top of the hill with the others close behind. It was a pretty steep hill, but the terrain was pretty even, so it was quite easy.

Once they made it to the top, they had a clear view of surrounding area. "It's clearing up now, Josh. But the readings are still pretty erratic."

Josh took it from her magical aurora and had a look at it. "I think that's what we're looking for though. Give me a second." He started hitting a few buttons on it.

"…Okay, I think I got something. There are 3 energy signatures that operate on a similar frequency to you, Twilight. So they must be magic. Although whatever interferes with my Tricorder is being generated naturally inside the forest somehow. The closest one to us is approximately 600 meters that way." Josh pointed to his right. "I think we should split up. Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, I want you to go to that one. Applejack, come with me and Twilight to that one over there. It's approximately 1 and a half kilometres that way." Josh pointed to the left.

"Why do we need to split up?" Asked Spike.

"Zhengyi's been 1 step ahead of me the whole time. I bet one of those is a trick to stall us. By splitting up, we'll cut down on time."

"Oh yeah, I see."

"Right…uhh…" Josh drew the Phaser he had holstered in his belt. "I'm going to trust you with this. Since you have no better means of protection." He showed it to Spike. "Just point and press this button to fire." He pointed to the back button on the left. "It's only set to stun or knockout, but I don't know how lethal it can be to other species. Be careful. Only fire it when absolutely necessary."

"You got it." Spike replied as he took it.

"Right. If in doubt, get out of here. Understood?"

"Yep, totally, no problem, thank you." Fluttershy replied quickly.

Josh looked at Fluttershy then at the others. Applejack winked at him with an expression that showed she understood.

"Let's go. The first sign of trouble, get out of here." Josh said as he turned to head in the direction he needed to go.

"Got it." Applejack said as she started walking off.

Josh and Twilight went back down the hill and started flowing the directions they needed to go in. "And there goes the scanning range." Josh said.

"Why does it do that anyway?"

"Something that's naturally being produced inside the forest. Although I can't tell what it is." Josh replied.

They made their way through the forest. The terrain got denser and denser. They had to climb over or under lots of obstacles. "I bet Rarity's lovin' this." Josh commented as he pulled himself up and over a fallen tree trunk.

"I bet." Twilight replied.

A little while later, his Tricorder started beeping. "It should be directly in front of us any second now." Josh said to Twilight.

They took a few more steps and there was a big clearing in front of them. "…Uhh…what are we looking for?" Twilight asked.

"Not sure. But according to this, it should be right here."

"But there's nothing here. It's just a clearing."

"Well then, let's go and do some snooping around. See what-"

"Josh, lookout." Twilight loud-whispered as she shoved him into a bush and followed him in.

Josh quickly came to his knees and peeked over the top. There was a Changeling flying in from above the forest towards the clearing. It kept going and going towards the ground. When it was only about 10 meters from the ground, its horn lit up and a green aurora encapsulated it. It then just flew through the ground like it wasn't even there.

"Uhh…what just happened?" Twilight asked.

"I think I know." Josh replied as he got up. He walked over to the clearing and hit a few buttons on his Tricorder. "It's an illusion which their projecting electrons onto. Thus meaning you're able to walk over the top of it. That Changeling that went through there a minute ago must've performed some sort of spell that counters the effects."

"I don't know any spells like that. Can you counter the effects?"

"I think so." Josh replied and started hitting a few buttons on his Tricorder. Just as he pushed the last one, the ground slowly faded away.

They both leant over the edge and peered down the steep hole. "Well, at least we know one thing; your suspicion of the Changelings living underground was right."

"It looks like quite a way down though…"

"It sure does." Josh motioned his hand towards it. "Ladies first."

Twilight all of a sudden gave him a shove down. "Stallions just before." She replied as she jumped down with him.

**\/\/\/\/**

"Ugh! We've been walking for ages! The humidity is frizzing up my mane!" Rarity complained.

"We ain't been goin' for too long. An' we ain't even gone that far!"Applejack replied.

"Well, this seems about right. Can you see anything usual?"

"Unusual? Ya do know where we are, right? Everything's actin' funny." Applejack replied.

"Uhh…that clearing over there. That might be a start." Spike replied and pointed. Without even waiting for a response, he started walking towards it.

They looked around. There was nothing out of the ordinary. And no sign of any Changelings. "This is stupid, we don't even know what we're doing." Spike complained.

"C'mon now. There's gotta be somethin'. Josh said so."

Spike looked to his left, then to his right. He then looked straight again and sighed. "Unless it's supposed to be falling out of the sky, there's nothing here."

All of a sudden, they all lost their footing. They immediately looked down to see that the ground was still there, but they were falling through it. Fluttershy immediately reacted by flying up.

Spike, Rarity, and Applejack all started panicking, but all of a sudden, a dash of black came up and hit them, knocking them to the side and out of the way.

Spike shook his head and saw 3 Changelings straight in front of him. "Spike, use that thing!" Rarity called out.

Spike looked at the tool Josh had given him. He pointed it at one of the Changelings and pressed the button. A light orange beam discharged out of it and hit one of them. But nothing happened. It's like it just got absorbed into its body.

"It's not working! It's not working! WHYS IT NOT WORKING!?" Rarity panicked.

"Run!" Applejack called. They weren't going to argue with that and started running as fast as they could away.

**\/\/\/\/**

Josh and Twilight picked themselves up at the bottom of the tunnel. It was pitch black. Couldn't see a thing. "Twilight, you there?" Josh said quietly.

"Yes. Hold on." Twilight's horn started glowing and provided some illumination down the tunnel.

"Well, that's probably the funniest entrance to an underground settlement." Josh replied as he got up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

"Where do we go from here?" Twilight asked.

"Only one way but forward." Josh replied. "But why were they trying to conceal their entrances?" Josh picked his Tricorder up off the ground and looked at it.

"Because they're trying to hide it?" Twilight replied.

"Maybe. But why would they want to hide it? Celestia would never order an attack against their empire; she's only interested in running her own. Why the need to hide it?" Josh looked at some of the readings he was getting. "Magic emissions are off the scale, there's plenty of activity down here allright. But I can't make heads or tails of it. But since this is a complex of narrow tunnels, the scans are much more concentrated and effective, meaning I can get more detail."

"Well, let's not try and draw attention to ourselves. Can you pin-"

"Wait, hold on. I'm detecting something. The readings. They're moving to another point. Not too far to our east. It could be that Spike and the others have been found, since it's around the area I told them to go to."

"Or they might know we're down here and are trying to lure us into a trap. Which is much more likely."

Josh sighed. "Changelings; the Romulans of the My Little Pony universe…"

"Romulans?"

"It's complicated. Basically, on Star Trek, the Romulans are an alien race whose entire society and culture is based around espionage and sabotage. Much like the Changelings, who appear to be experts in both those fields. Anyway, onward."

They slowly moved through the tunnels. They appeared to be a couple of meters in diameter, giving them plenty of headroom. Josh in particular. They didn't have anything fancy on the walls, they were just dirt tunnels.

After a little while, they came to a point in the tunnel that had 4 different routes to take. "Let's go through this one on the right." Twilight suggested. "That's where the others should be."

"No. If they are down there, then they'll be in trouble. I told them to run if they get into trouble, so they shouldn't be down there. But I'm picking up an unusual energy signature here on the left" he pointed "I think we should go check this out."

"What makes it unusual?"

"I don't know. It's just…different." Josh started walking in that direction. Twilight followed him.

"I'm picking up more life signs up this end. Could you dim the light a little bit to keep us hidden?"

Twilight reduced the intensity of the light coming out of her horn so they could just barely see ahead of them. "Any darker and we won't be able to see."

"That'll do nicely." Josh replied.

They walked for a little while longer before they came to a junction with only 2 options: left or right.

"Left or right?" Asked Twilight.

"Right." Josh replied as he turned.

All of a sudden, he saw something coming down from the tunnel. He immediately bounced backwards and pinned himself and Twilight against the wall, clenching the tip of her horn in his hand to cut off the light.

Even though he couldn't see, he heard the sound of Changeling wings come past and then fade into the distance. "Phew. That was close." He said, releasing Twilight.

"How can he see where he was going?" Twilight asked.

Josh shrugged. "Maybe they can see in the dark." He replied. "Anyway, the unusual energy signature should only be a minute away now." He started moving down the right hand tunnel. "Hey, is that a light?"

Twilight looked down the tunnel and saw a dim light at the end of it. "Yeah, I think it is."

"Turn your horn off. It'll make us harder to see."

Twilight stopped emitting light from her horn and followed Josh down the tunnel. They slowly got closer and closer towards the light until they reached the end of the clearing.

What they saw took them by surprise. It was a HUGE underground clearing. There were Changelings everywhere. It was at least 400 meters from floor to ceiling. The surrounding walls had tunnels going all through them. In the middle was a bright green-glowing diamond-shaped portal-like thing. Changelings were going in and coming out of it. It travelled the entire height of the room.

"It's a huge underground network. You must be able to get anywhere in Equestria through here." Josh was about to step off the edge, but then he noticed the drop down. It was at least up to 50 meters to the floor.

"What's that big green diamond thing in the middle?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not 100 percent sure, but by the way Changelings are coming and going out of it, I'd say it's some sort of portal. Maybe leading to other locations throughout Equestria."

"Throughout Equestria?"

"Think about it, Twilight. You said it yourself; you have no idea where the Changelings actual kingdom is located. And they're obviously very good at travelling around. Remember your brother's wedding? You got magically teleported hundreds of meters below Canterlot. If they can do that with just a flick of a horn, it's obvious that time and distance mean nothing to them if they can just travel instantly like that."

"You mean we never found the Changelings because they never stay in the same place?"

"Exactly. As far as I understand it, that portal is probably connected to lots of other smaller portals all over Equestria. That's how they get around so quick. That big portal might even be connected to another portal. For all we know, they could be situated on the other side of this planet and use magic portals to get around."

"…Then we could be stuck in here looking for Zhengyi for years…"

"I'm afraid so…"

"But what about your Tricorder? Can't that scan beyond the portal to see where it leads?"

Josh shook his head. "Unfortunately not. I can probably get it to emit something that will allow us to scan, but it's not that simple. It has a limited scanning range. If what I say is true and they are based on the other side of the planet, I'd need much stronger sensors to read it."

"The shuttle. That has stronger sensors."

"Yeah, but how do we pick up those readings? It could barely get 20 meters through the forest."

"Uhh…these tunnels are wide enough to fly though. Couldn't we bring it down here?"

"We could, but then we would need to defend ourselves. I highly doubt the Changelings would just sit there as we-" His attention was drawn as he noticed something. He saw Spike and the others being carried by Changelings.

"Oh no…" Twilight said softly

"Dammit. This makes it a lot harder." Josh thumped the wall out of frustration.

The Changelings that were carrying them went over to the other side of the clearing and landed next to a bunch of other Changelings. They then began discussing things that Josh and Twilight were out of earshot to hear.

"Right, let's get down there."

"Are you crazy!? There's no way we're getting them out of that. We're outnumbered over 10 to 1!"

"We're not fighting. We're just gonna follow them. Look" Josh pointed down to the floor. "There's a small trench-like valley that leads all the way to the portal. If we can get down there, we can sneak along that and follow them to wherever they go."

"Great. But how do we get down there?"

"Climb down the wall." Josh replied.

"Are you out of your mind!? There's no way I'm climbing down that!"

"It's either that or we spend the rest of eternity navigating these tunnels."

"I know, but I can't climb. And how are we not gonna get seen?"

"Well…that's just a minor setback. Do you know anything that might be used to our advantage? From what I can tell, the Changelings look kinda like ponies with a bit of insect-ish genes mixed in with them."

"They have been known to have poor eyesight." Twilight replied.

"Hmm…do you think you could encase our heads only in a protective forcefield?"

"Uhh…I don't see why not…why?"

Josh hit a few buttons on his Tricorder. "I'm setting this up to emit a strong airborne substance that is a heavy hallucinogen. If a Changeling comes too close, we'll look like something completely different."

"Hallucinogens? Are you sure that's a good idea? It might make things worse."

"It's the only thing I can do if one of them gets too close though."

"Yeah, but they might imagine us as something else. I don't think that's the best way to go."

"…Hmmm…can you project images using your magic? Like basic ones? Like a background or something?"

"What…Umm…yeah, I suppose…"

"If I provided you with a surface, could you project an image of the wall we're climbing down onto it?"

"I could, but I don't see what good that-"

"It'll be a transparent surface. You'd only be able to tell if you were very close."

"Oh, okay. That sounds feasible."

Josh started hitting some buttons on his Tricorder. "That's that set up. It should encapsulate us. All you need to do is project the image. You just need to project what's directly in front of us. In other words, the wall we're about to climb down. Can you do that?"

"I'll try…"

"Good enough. Since you've got to set up the image, you go first." Josh replied, motioning to the wall.

Twilight walked over to the edge of the tunnel. She poked her head around the corner to try and see where to start. "I've never done climbing like this before…" She put her forehooves on the best starting point she could see. "Have you?"

"A couple of times, but never at this altitude. Don't worry though; I've only broken a couple bones a few times."

"…That's reassuring…" She stepped out all the way and held herself tightly to the wall.

"That's perfect. Just don't look down." Josh commented.

"Don't look down? But we're climbing down!"

"Well…don't look down all the way."

"How am I supposed to do t-"

"Just put up the damn image." Josh interrupted.

Twilight's horn glowed and a beam of light purple shot out into the air. It collided against an invisible wall and formed an image over it.

"That's good. Now start moving down and to the left a bit to give me room to join on."

Twilight looked downish. She tried to spot where to put her hooves next. The wall was pretty smooth, so finding indentations to put her hooves in was quite hard. Although the ones she saw wouldn't even fit half her hoof on them, she moved down to them, having no other choice.

"That's good, that's good, nice 'n' slow." Josh commented as he climbed onto the location where she was. "Now, let's start going down." He looked down and bit his lip as he saw the height. _'I think I've bitten off more than I can chew on this plan…'_

He tried to move his feet down to the closest indent, but he couldn't quite reach. He let go with his left hand to drop himself down a bit. Once he could reach, he pulled his hands down and grabbed onto the ones he had his feet in previously.

Josh was starting to overtake Twilight, but he was naturally more confident, so moved a bit faster. "Try slipping a little bit." Josh suggested. "Loosen your grip and slowly slide down between the rocks."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one trying to hold a spell at the same time."

"I'll go at your pace. You just go as fast as you can." Josh replied. He looked down. "We're only about 5 or 10 meters from another tunnel entrance. We can drop into that then start again."

He continued climbing down until he was about a meter or 2 from the tunnel entrance. He then dropped and swung himself into the tunnel. He immediately turned around and looked up for Twilight. She was coming along slowly. She was still about 5 meters up. "Just a bit more, Twilight. Then just drop and I'll catch you."

"Are you crazy!? There's no way I'm letting go of this thing until I'm at least out of hoof room!"

"I'll catch you when you get to that point. Don't worry. Just keep going."

Twilight slowly eased her way down. When she got low enough, Josh grabbed her by the flank and pulled her in. "You're a little sweaty." He said as he put her down.

"It's hard work holding this spell whilst trying to teach myself how to climb."

"Just take your time. I'll go first this time and direct you." Josh said as he sat down on the edge of the tunnel and swung himself over the edge, grabbing onto the ledge as he did.

Josh climbed down a few lengths before Twilight started to follow him. "The walls a little looser here, so watch your footing." Josh instructed.

"Thanks…" Twilight replied. _'You sure know quick ways to lower confidence…'_

They continued to climb down. Josh pulled away at times, but he always stopped to let Twilight catch up.

Twilight lowered her right hind leg down until she felt something on her hoof. She then slowly applied pressure and lowered herself down. Suddenly, the supporting rock she was putting her hoof on broke off and she dropped a bit. The ones she had her forehooves on couldn't handle the strain and broke off too. _'Trynottoscream Trynottoscream Trynottoscream TrynottoscreamTRYNOTTOSCREAM !'_ Was the only thing that was going through her mind, but she couldn't resist her fear and slowly let the noise escape her throat.

Josh immediately looked up at the sound of trouble. He saw Twilight falling towards him. His eyes bulged and he looked in front of him to see where he could grab on. He latched his left hand onto the lowest point he could find and then extended his right arm out.

He caught Twilight in her left foreleg-pit. He almost dropped her again under the load, but he managed to reposition his feet to compensate. It looked like it hurt a bit from the position he caught her in, but it was better than falling to her death.

"Climb across." Josh instructed as he tried to pull her up with his arm. He bought her a little bit closer. "Put your forelegs around my neck."

Twilight swung her hind legs across to get them onto the wall and then pushed off them to reach out to Josh. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Try not to scream next time." Josh said as he regained his breath.

"That's all I was thinking about on the way down." She replied.

"You managed to keep the spell up. That's a bonus."

"Just." Twilight replied. "But I'm not sure for how much longer. It's very draining."

"Just concentrate on the spell. I'll do the rest." Josh replied. He put his left hand underneath her and then began climbing back down.

"You can't carry me and climb at the same time! You're crazy!"

"Perhaps. But if that spell goes, we'll be revealed. I can't risk that. Besides, you're not that heavy, Twilight. You're as light as a feather. Like a big teddy bear."

Twilight smiled sheepishly and her cheeks tinted a tiny bit. "But can you climb with one hand?"

"Probably not, but I've got no other choice. It's either that or we fall to our deaths." He replied.

They made it down to the next tunnel entrance. "I need to take a break for a minute, Twi. Give my arms a rest." Josh said as he slumped back against the wall of the tunnel. He looked over the edge to see how far they had to go. "Only a few more meters. About 10, maybe just over. But there's a small incline at the bottom. We could slide down that when we get near enough." He looked at Twilight. "How's the spell?"

"I can't hold it much longer. We need to get down soon."

"Oh, okay. Come on." He picked her up and lowered himself down.

"You don't need to carry me again, you know." Twilight stated.

"Perhaps, but I don't want to risk your spell cutting out halfway." Josh replied.

He felt the wall getting looser as he climbed further and further down. "This wall might give way soon, Twi. We might have to start sliding down at a higher height."

"Just as long as it's not lethal." Twilight replied.

He climbed down a little bit further, but he got slower and slower each time. He was getting more hesitant as to where to put his hand and feet, worrying about the risk of the rocks breaking off. But he couldn't hold on for much longer. He was struggling to use his left hand to hold Twilight and his right hand to hold onto the wall.

Suddenly, the rock he was holding onto broke off. He clawed at the wall trying to keep his balance, but he failed. He fell down backwards. He immediately cuddled Twilight into his belly to protect her. "Brace yourself!" He warned.

He hit the side of the incline with a thump, taking most of the impact himself to protect Twilight. He pushed Twilight off on impact so that he didn't risk crushing her in the event that he landed the wrong way on the next impact. He knew Twilight must've stopped the spell by now, so he tried to maintain as low of a profile as he could.

They finally both came to a rest at the bottom of the hill. Twilight sat up and shook her head, coughing a bit. "Josh, are you allright?" She asked.

She looked to her right to see Josh. He looked like he was in pain. She gasped and ran over to him. "Are you allright?"

"Ugh…slight bruising. I'll be fine." He slowly sat up. "That little stunt did a number on my back…"

"Are you okay? Do you wanna get outta here?"

"No. I'll be fine. Like I said, slight bruising, but I'll be fine."

Twilight suddenly gasped. "You're bleeding!"

Josh felt blood trickle from his forehead. "I might've rattled my head a little. Hurts a bit, but it doesn't feel like I have a concussion or whiplash. Well, maybe a bit of whiplash…" He rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I'll live. Just about. Come on, down into that trench latrine looking thing." He pointed to it as he moved towards it as low as he could. Twilight followed him, also crouched slightly.

When he made it in, he started crawling on his belly. "This trench leads all the way to the portal. We just got to get there before Spike and the others do." Josh peaked over the top. He saw 4 Changelings moving with Spike and the others towards the portal. "Crap their moving towards it, we better hurry." And with that, he started crawling as fast as he could.

He poked his head up every now and again to see where they were in relation to the Changelings. He wasn't catching them very quickly, but he didn't want to. He wanted to be just behind them.

Just as they were nearing the end of the trench, the Changelings led all the ponies and Spike through the portal. Josh got as close as he could to it and then bought himself to his knees. He had a quick look around to see if there was any near him. There was hundreds of Changelings in this underground chamber, but most of them seemed preoccupied to notice him.

Josh bought out his Tricorder and did a quick scan of the portal. The results he got were quite surprising. "They're using phase variance frequencies to determine the routes this portal can take. Like IP addresses on a computer!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can manipulate it perfectly. And do some other stuff if they decide to play the awkward game." He replied. He then pointed his Tricorder at Twilight. "Please forgive me for this, Twilight." He started pressing buttons on the device.

"Forgive you for what? Ahh!" Twilight's horn suddenly came to life and a magic field engulfed them both.

"Move through the portal." Josh instructed as he moved forwards. Twilight followed on right behind him.

As soon as he put his hand through, he was sucked in and was spinning wildly through the green aurora of the portal. All of a sudden, they both dropped out and landed on their feet.

"Are you allright?" Josh asked.

"I'm fine. But that's the wildest ride yet." Twilight replied, catching her breath.

"Heh. I love rollercoaster's." He replied. He started looking around at the new surroundings. They definitely weren't in the same place they just were. They were still underground judging by their surroundings, but somewhere different. There was a very small green illumination still, just enough to provide vision.

Josh saw some shadows just going through a left turn. "They're going that way." He whispered as he started moving towards them. He slipped his Tricorder back onto his belt to silence it.

"Josh wait, what are you doing?" Twilight whispered as she followed on.

He hugged the wall until he came to the corner of the left turn. He then stopped and looked at Twilight. "You take the ones on the right; I'll handle the ones on the left." He said plain and simply.

"What?"

"Just incapacitate them."Josh replied. He placed the index finger of his right hand behind her ear and run it down her neck and shoulder. "There's a nerve that runs directly to the brain from here. A solid blow to this rough area should be enough to knock them out." He advised. He then turned the corner. Twilight sighed and followed him out.

Josh saw everypony and Spike being escorted by 4 Changelings. No doubt for imprisonment. Or possible interrogation. He snuck up to them on tiptoes, trying to be as quiet as possible. He wasn't completely silent, but he was as silent as he could be. Twilight was doing the same, but it was even more difficult for her, because her hooves made the 'clip-clop-clip-clop' noise. She tried to counter it by walking in time with the others so her sound blended in.

Josh realised what she was trying to do and thought that it actually wasn't a bad idea. He tried to do the same. Even though he didn't need to, but it would still help cover his sounds a bit.

He crept closer and closer, slowly getting ready to strike. He got just within striking distance of the first one on the left. Suddenly, he saw one dive at him from the right. _'Dammit, they saw me!'_ He rolled to the right to dodge. "Fight!" He called out to try and get the others to fight back.

One of the Changelings dived straight on top of him. He tried to land a blow to Josh's head, but Josh met the blow with his hand and started wrestling him. Twilight shot him off Josh with a magic blast.

Josh immediately got up and looked for his next target. He approached the Changeling harassing Fluttershy. "I think you've got something that belongs to me!" Josh said aggressively, referring to the Phaser he was holding with magic.

Josh's voice immediately grabbed his attention and charged at him, dropping the Phaser. He tried to hit Josh on the head, but Josh ducked to avoid it and punched him in the chest. The Changeling shrugged it off and then hit Josh directly on his left temple. Josh tried his best to ignore the pain and fought back, landing an uppercut on the Changeling. The Changeling stumbled backwards, but then delivered a powerful buck from his hind legs to Josh's chest.

Josh was winded as he was sent flying backwards and landed on his back. He breathed deeply and quickly to try and regain his breath. But he couldn't for long as he saw the Changeling flying at him. He rolled forward to avoid it and then stood up, spinning 180 degrees. He held back and waited, practically inviting the Changeling to take a shot.

The Changeling did so. He threw his right hoof at him. Josh dodged to the left and went straight for his neck in a karate chop fashion, knocking him out. He turned around and saw his Phaser on the floor. He ran over to it and picked it up.

He wasn't too concerned about the others, because they easily outnumbered the Changelings 7 to 4 (now 3).

He took aim at one of the Changelings that was been harassed by Rarity and Applejack. "Wait, it doesn't work!" Spike shouted, but it was too late, Josh's thumb had already reached the button.

The shot impacted on the Changeling, but it just disappeared. Like nothing happened. But he seemed to notice it, and started flying towards Josh.

Josh looked at it and hit a few other buttons with his thumb. He then re-aimed and fired again. This time, when it impacted, it made a different sound. Like an electrical sound. The Changeling yelped and then fell to the ground. Not dead, just stunned.

Josh glared at the remaining Changelings. They tried to make a run for it, but he simply pressed the button and bought them to the ground.

"Is everypony okay?"He asked as he looked around.

"Not a scratch." Applejack replied.

"Good, good. Let's keep going. They're probably looking for us. And I wouldn't be surprised if they heard that deeper into this place." He started walking in the direction they were originally going.

"Yeah, that thing didn't work when I tried to use it. How did you get it to work?" Spike asked.

"It seems that the Changelings have been picking my brains for longer than I thought." Josh replied. "I've sorted it out now, but they shouldn't have known how to block it. I get the feeling they've been to my house a few times…" He turned around the corner.

"Well, where do we go now?" Asked Twilight.

Josh flipped his Tricorder up. "…Hmm…There's a large concentration of them way further back, but apart from that, there's probably about a dozen scattered around the place. I think we should go to this reading" Josh tapped the screen to show them. "There appears to be another single life sign that's encased in some sort of…biological compound. Possibly another life form."

"What makes you say it isn't another life form?"

"It's slightly different. That's why I'm a little suspicious. Come on, let's go find it." Josh quickened his pace and glanced down at the device from time to time to check that he was going in the right direction.

They navigated their way through the underground tunnel network. The illumination was dim but enough for them to be able to see relatively clearly. "According to this, it's just through here." Josh said as he turned a corner. Only to be greeted by a wall.

"Well thet ain't no gud." Applejack replied.

"Hold your horses, Applejack. All is not lost." Josh said calmly as he punched a few buttons. "This wall is only half a meter thick, very inconsistent from the rest of the tunnels. It also has a much higher compaction rate and density than the rest of this network, giving the indication it was artificially modified. I have a feeling they put the wall here themselves. But it's only half a meter thick, so getting through won't be a problem." He started pulling the soil away with his hands. He tried hitting it a few times to see if it made any difference, but it wouldn't budge.

"Step aside, Pard'ner." Applejack said confidently as she nudged him out the way. She then turned her back to the wall and clenched her hind legs as far into her stomach as she could, looking like she had to pee really badly. Then, with a loud grunt, her hind legs flung backwards and collided against the wall, shattering it into a million little pieces. They made a slight pitter-patter as they fell to the ground.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Impressive…"

"You ain't seen nothin' yet." Applejack replied smugly.

The room inside was quite small. Well, it was actually quiet large, but if you were to judge it on the scale of the rest of the network, it was very small. Inside, there was a single green cocoon being suspended from the ceiling. It was obscuring whatever was inside of it, but Josh managed to look through to see what it was. It was a pony. A pony he knew quite well actually. "It's Zhengyi!" He cried as he raced towards it.

"Hey Zhengyi, you allright? I'm here to help you." He called out to him. But got no response. On closer inspection, it appeared that Zhengyi was asleep. Or he hoped so at least…

He tried to knock on the cocoon to get him to wake up, but the cocoon was too high up for him to reach. He sighed. "Sorry buddy" he raised his Phaser, "but this is gonna be a pretty rude wakeup call." He fired at the line that was suspending the cocoon, snapping it in half. The cocoon fell to the ground and landed with a thump. Josh immediately saw Zhengyi's eyes shoot open.

He saw Josh and immediately started flailing his limbs around inside the cocoon. He was saying something, but it was too muffled to hear. "Don't panic, I'm here to help." Josh reassured as he aimed his Phaser at the top of the cocoon. He fired just over the edge to cut it open. He then reached his hands inside and started pulling it apart. "Somepony help me." He said with strain in his voice. It was a tough old thing that cocoon.

Applejack and Twilight ran over to help him pull it apart. It slowly came apart until Zhengyi was able to put his forehooves through and pull himself out the rest of the way. "Are you allright?" Josh asked.

"Get out of here! It's a trap!" Zhengyi cried.

"A trap!? What do you mean!?"

"This whole charade was just a diversion to get you out of the way of whatever the hay their planning to do! You need to get back! Now!"

"I'm not leaving without you. You're the whole reason we came down here in the first place. Now, are there any other ponies trapped down here?"

Zhengyi bought himself to his hooves. "That way" he pointed "down the other end of the tunnel. They bought me here for interrogation. They failed miserably." He brushed some of the goo off his fur.

"Right. Let's go save your colleagues; THEN we'll get out of here."

"No! I'll save them! You need to stop the Changeling Army. For all we know, they could be in Canterlot by now!"

"Unfortunately, that's not the way I work. Their lives are at stake. Equestria will have to hold on for a little while. You can go try be a hero all you want. I'm going to get those ponies!" And with that, Josh turned and headed for the directions indicated.

"But if we let them get what they want, that means they win!" Zhengyi cried as he ran alongside Josh.

"Then we better be quick. Besides, if they want information, they'll need me to get it for them."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm pretty sure they want information, but I also bet they're gonna want a permanent copy. To do so would require me to do that for them."

"But what if they learned the language your computers work with?"

"As far as I know, all they know how to do is decode binary. Doing that in your head is a long and tedious process, so they will only do that as a last resort. Also, it's only your counterpart that knows this thing we use to decode binary called ASCII. ASCII is used to translate binary into meaningful data. Without it, it'll just be a bunch of gibberish."

"But if other me knows that, he won't hold anything back trying to get to it."

"Oh I think he's got his hooves tied down for a while. As far as I know, he doesn't even know I'm down here. And even if he did, he wouldn't make a move because he'd risk blowing his cover."

"Hmm…that seems plausible…but if they even get a scrap of your technology, we're done for. You can't let it fall into their hooves."

"I don't intend to." Josh replied. "Lots of concentrated life signs just up ahead. Must be your guys."

They walked another couple of meters until the tunnel gradually widened. Then they came to a massive clearing where, at the back of the wall, were tons of cocoons containing ponies. It looked like there was almost a hundred. Not quite a hundred, but pretty close. Guarding them were what seemed to be hundreds of Changelings. Their eyes were all locked on the intruders, ready to strike.

Josh remained in place for a few seconds, observing the Changelings. He then slowly moved in, motioning with his hands for the others to follow him. The Changelings copied his motion and headed towards him at the same speed.

He kept motioning with his hands for the others to follow on, just in case they had any doubts. He quickly glanced to the left, then to the right, then up, then back straight ahead.

He walked a couple more meters before he slowed his pace. The Changelings matched his pace change. He slowly moved his right hand down but kept looking straight ahead. He felt his Phaser on his fingertips. He gripped it and then drew it a little quicker, pointing at the Changelings directly in front of him. Some hesitated whilst others charged right at him.

Josh immediately swung his arm up and above his head and aimed backwards about 20 degrees. He pressed the button, making everyone jump at the sound of the discharge.

The shot impacted on the ceiling and made the earth shake. Small particles fell from the ceiling, slowly getting larger and larger until the whole ceiling began to cave in like an avalanche.

Everyone flinched but Josh remained in his place. He could see panic in everyone's eyes as he looked around. As the cascade came to a halt, he felt the earth begin to surround his feet. _'Now I know why everyone flinched. That was a little too close for comfort…'_ "There's only gonna be so much air to go around. I'd either start fighting for it or digging your way out."

He began walking forward. "Your move." Everypony else looked at each either, slightly concerned. They hesitantly followed him.

Josh heard some of the Changelings behind his back begin to argue about whether they're going to be trapped or not. About who they should fight and who's to blame. A few curses were thrown and those curses were retaliated with physical contact. Whilst some of them began brawling, the smarter ones began to start contemplating a way out.

Zhengyi ran to his side. "Nice work, Genius. We're trapped."

"Don't sweat. All's good."

"All's good until we ran out of air." Zhengyi added.

"Nah, we'll be long gone before that happens. Let's free your guys and then combine all your magic to make a blast big enough to clear that debris."

"But we don't know how deep that debris goes! And we're all so weak. We're pretty much drained. And when we do, they'll just come at us again."

"Twilight told me that Changelings have poor eyesight. Just do a spell bright enough to disorientate them and strong enough to clear the debris. There's almost a hundred of you, so don't say you can't."

Zhengyi thought for a minute. Then his eyes widened and he gave a more enthusiastic face. "That just might work!" He proclaimed.

"Good. Now let's free your guys." He looked back at the others. "I'll shoot them down, you help them out." He instructed.

Without waiting for confirmation, he immediately took aim and started shooting the cocoons off their suspenders. He knew he wouldn't be able to hit each line they were dangling on, because he wasn't that accurate, so he hit the point where they were being suspended on the roof with a low power setting.

Once 1 of them was out, it was easier to get others out. It didn't take too long before they were all free. Obviously they had questions they wanted answering, but now was neither the time nor place. "I appreciate you all want to know what's going on, but I think we should clear the entrance before we run out of air." Josh suggested and pointed. "Try to use a spell that has big area destructive power along with brightness to blind the Changelings. That should clear it and buy us a few seconds to get away."

He looked at Twilight. "You know what to do. You start, they'll join in."

Twilight nodded and turned around, faced towards the doorway clogged with debris. Her horn started glowing and slowly building up. All the other Unicorns looked at each other and slowly began joining in.

Their power combined and slowly built up until it was all released in 1 big flash. Josh covered his eyes with his left hand to obscure the light. The blast made a loud echo throughout the whole area.

Josh took his hand away and saw that the area had been cleared and the Changelings were all walking funny, blinded from the light. "Run!" Josh said quickly as he started running for the exit. Nopony hesitated to follow him.

As he was nearing the exit, he saw some ponies run past him. Obviously they were faster runners than him. Saying that, he expected everypony in Equestria to be faster runners than him.

"Next right." He instructed as they neared the turning.

When they turned, all they saw was a wall. A dead end. "Keep running." Josh said as he got his Tricorder out.

"Are you-"

"Trust me!" He replied as he started hitting buttons.

A giant green glowing diamond appeared that consumed the entire dead end. "Run into it!" Josh ordered. He then looked back down at his Tricorder, still running straight ahead hoping he wouldn't hit anything or anypony. _'Allright, let's see if this actually works…' _He started hitting buttons on the device. _'As I figured out earlier, they use a scheme similar to IP addresses on a computer. If that's the case then this should work…' _He made the final adjustments. _'Compensate for interference. And if these readings are correct there should be an exit a couple meters from my house…..that's it!'_

He looked up to be greeted by a flash of green. He didn't hesitate in pressing the final button on his device to initiate the process he'd set up.

He started flying around the green aurora again. He heard the cries of many ponies as it took them by surprise. He tried his best to look behind him. He saw a great big fiery explosion happening behind him. "It worked!" He said quite loud, but nobody could hear him over the rest of the noise.

All of a sudden, he felt himself fall onto a hard surface and stop moving. As his eyes readjusted, he saw the sky above him. He also saw a bit of black smoke, but he gathered that was just a by-product of his sabotage.

He sat up and coughed a little bit. "Is everypony allright?" He looked around. All the ponies appeared to be there. Including the ones he bought with him. He looked around. He was in the location where he first arrived. He looked to the right and saw his house about 200 meters away.

He stood up and waited for everypony to regain their composure. He saw his Tricorder lying upside-down on the ground. _'Must've dropped it…'_ He picked it up and aimed it at his house.

"What's it saying Josh?" Zhengyi asked as he walked up to him.

"There's about 20 Changelings inside and around my house." He said then flipped it down and put it back on his belt. He looked at Zhengyi and smiled. "There's well over double of us. Think you can handle it, Commander?"

Zhengyi smiled back at him and nodded. He then looked back at his guards. "Allright everypony. About 20 Changelings over there. Think we can take 'em?" He said with a can-do attitude.

Most of the guards complained that they were weak and hungry, but after a minute or 2 of persuading, they all started cheering each other on to get them.

Zhengyi looked at Josh. "We've got your back. Just do your stuff."

Josh nodded. "Allright. Try not to let them get away, but don't worry if you do. I've shut down their little teleportation system, so they won't be able to get away via that."

"Gotcha. Let's go!" Zhengyi said then everypony started moving towards Josh's house. Josh just followed on. They weren't quite charging, but it was faster than walking pace.

Josh drew his Phaser and prepared to fire at anything that may try to get away.

As they got closer, he was able to pick out the Changelings. But as soon as they were within fighting distance, they were noticed. Josh immediately didn't hesitate to start firing. He pressed the button and managed to shoot one of them on his front drive. He aimed for the other, but he flew up and out of the way.

All of a sudden, cascades of Changelings shot up from his back garden, all running away. They appeared to be holding big mounds of tiny rectangular devices in their hooves, trying not to drop them.

Josh aimed at them, but he wasn't a very good shot. He only got a few of them, but managed to get the others to drop some of what they were carrying.

He looked back at the others. "I'm going round the back. You go get those ones that flew off. I also want what they were trying to steal secured."

Zhengyi nodded in response.

Josh walked around to the side of his house and opened the back gate. He went down it. There was a fence to his right and the wall of the house to his left, so it felt like going down an alleyway.

As soon as he got to the end, he pointed his Phaser out first. He saw a Changeling organizing a pile of the colored rectangles. He didn't hesitate to shoot him.

The sound of his Phaser blast bought another Changeling out of the shuttle. Immediately spotting Josh, he flew straight up.

Josh attempted to shoot him, but missed on the first 3 attempts. Then he saw a purple magic blast fly through the air and collide with the back of the Changeling. It fell to the ground, stunned. Or at least Josh hoped it was stunned, because that's all he was doing.

Josh ran up his garden and into the shuttle. He immediately started hitting buttons on one of the consoles to see what they were up to. He knew they were downloading data, because they were data chips, the question was what, and how much?

He saw the amount of data they were trying to get away with. _'Glad we foiled that. That could've caused some difficulties.'_ He started to contemplate what to do next.

"Josh," he heard Twilight's voice. She flew one of the data chips in front of his face, starling him slightly. "What are these? And why are they so important?"

"They're 24th century data chips. Data storage devices. I gather they know how to translate them, since they went through the trouble of stealing them."

"But…how did they download them off this computer anyway?"

"Well, from what I can gather, they went via trial and error." He hit a few buttons and bought up another screen. It had the word 'error' written all over it. "Seriously, they must've hit every damn button to get all of that. In doing so, they screwed up most of the systems. It'll take me an age to figure this all out."

"Hmm…so they could've had 24th century knowledge. Is that such a bad thing?"

"First of all, if they can't read it, then they'd have nothing. And even if they did, it depends on how they'd use it. But this world has one factor that the 24th century didn't take into account: Magic."

"Magic?"

"Some of this technology might be countered by the easiest spell in the book for all we know."

"Hmm…I guess…oh, and how did you know how to take their teleport thing down?"

Josh swiveled round in the chair to face her. "You remember when I first saw the device I said it used a method similar to an IP addressing scheme on a computer."

Twilight nodded. "I don't know what that means, but yeah."

"Well, I used an age-old computer trick to take it down. It was called the ping of death. Basically, computers have set protocols in place that cannot be altered. And one of those protocols is that it cannot receive what we call a packet, a packet of data, which is over a certain size. If it did, it would cause the system to crash. That's what I did back there except replacing the computer part."

"Oh…so it's down forever?"

Josh shook his head. "No, it only crashed. All they have to do is turn it back on again. But my thinking was that since each of those transport links had to be setup manually-"

"It'll take a while for them to get it working again." Twilight finished for him.

"Correct."

Zhengyi came rushing into his back garden. "Josh?"

"In here!" Josh called and waved.

Zhengyi entered the shuttle. "We've rounded up all the Changelings."

"Good. Recover all of these" he showed him the data chip "and then make sure they go back where they belong. In the meantime, you said you and your ponies were weak and hungry? I'll sort something out for you to eat."

"On no, we couldn't you've saved us, and we're grateful for that. You don't need to do anything else."

"Nonsense. It won't take too long, and it's no effort really."

"Oh, are you sure? It's not our customs to take from subjects…"

"I'll show you." Josh replied. "Computer, replicate one salad. Extra large portion."

"The item 'salad' comes under 389 different categories. Please narrow down options." The Computer's mechanical voice spoke.

"Narrow options down to Earth cuisine and randomize from that selection." Josh replied. The Computer beeped in response and some beams of light appeared in a small box on the right hand side of the ship joined by some whirring noises. The light began to bend and form a shape. Then colours appeared and something began to materialise inside of it. When the light stopped and the whirring noise ceased, a large plate with a salad on it was visible. Josh picked it up and offered it to Zhengyi.

Zhengyi was speechless. His eyes were wide and his jaw hung ajar. "And…you just made this out of thin air!?"

"Not quite, but pretty much." Josh replied with a chuckle. "Take it. It's yours. Tell your ponies there's some coming for them aswell."

Zhengyi took it with his magic and began scoffing it down as he walked. Josh looked back at the Replicator. "Computer, repeat previous order times a hundred." He didn't know exactly how many ponies there were to feed, but they could fight over the leftovers. "Beam directly to these coordinates."

"Ship is running low on Antimatter supplies. Extensive energy use may pose a threat."

"Noted. Now comply." Josh replied to the Computer.

The Computer beeped in acknowledgement and Josh heard the whirring of the Replicator, but the meals were being beamed away.

Josh hit one of the consoles to check the time. "Crap, we've only got 5 minutes left of our 6 hours. We better get going."

"We'll never make it to Canterlot in 5 minutes." Twilight replied.

"This baby will." Josh replied, patting the console. He moved into the Helmsmen position. "Here we go." He tapped a few buttons, bring the main drives online. The ship slowly began moving upwards and over his house. He then saw a congregation of ponies. "That'll be them. We just need to get Zhengyi."

He flew the ship in closer. "Computer, open main door."

The door at the side of the ship opened. Josh got out of his seat and walked over to it. He looked out to see that they were hovering about 5 meters in the air. He immediately scanned with his eyes and spotted Zhengyi. "We're going to go back to Canterlot to sort this out once and for all. But there's only room for so many in here. I trust it your guys can make it back on their own?"

"Uhh…" Zhengyi looked at them. They all nodded in response. "Go get 'em, Boss!" One of them commented.

He looked back up at Josh. "I'll take that as a yes."

"10-4, standby. I'll bring you aboard."

He went back in and walked up to another console. He hit a few buttons and a blue aurora arrived at the back of the ship. When the aurora dissipated, Zhengyi was left. "Uh…what just happened?"

"Just some more tricks of the 24th century." Josh replied. "Now, to Canterlot." He sat in the Helm seat and input the required coordinates. "Let's see…5000 kilometres per hour should be fast enough." Josh said as he set it off.

"5000!?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Bit slow, but it'll get it us there in under – we're there." Josh finished. He slowed the ship down as he approached Canterlot. "I'll take us in nice 'n' slow. I'll park us somewhere outside the Court House. That should give us enough space to walk in."

Josh feathered the controls slowly and touched the ship down with a bump just at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Court House. "Allright, let's go!" He hit a button and the side door of the shuttle opened. The 3 of them ran out and started heading up the stairs. The door closed automatically.

They went inside the building and started running through all the rooms and corridors to get to the Court Room. He ran up and barged through the doors, causing a large boom to echo throughout the building.

The crowd gasped as they heard it. All attention was fixed on the 2 ponies and Josh standing in the doorway. Some of them already immediately picked up on the fact that there was 2 Zhengyi's.

Josh panted for breath as he pointed at the Zhengyi behind the desk. "He's a Changeling!?" He announced.

The crowd gasped as Josh's claim. The Judge banged his gavel. "Mr. Valentine, what is-"

"You're too late!" Evil Zhengyi interrupted. A flash of green surrounded him and vanished within a second, revealing his true self.

Josh saw him getting ready to take off. He ran in the direction of his predicted flight path, hoping to intercept him as he was just taking off. As he saw him flinch to take off, Josh went for the dive. He timed it perfectly and managed to catch the Changeling in his path. But that didn't stop him try to fly away. Josh saw him throw something in the Judge's direction as they took off, but he didn't catch any details.

He clipped his right ankle on a window frame as the Changeling flew out. He cried in pain, but still tried to fight on. He had the Changelings around the neck, but he was fighting back hard with his forehooves, punching him in the stomach.

Many of the ponies around Canterlot stopped to watch in awe as Josh fought the Changeling in midair. He pulled himself up and tried to use his weight to pull it down, but it failed. The Changeling simply rolled over so he wasn't the right way up anymore. Josh reached up and quickly let go with both his hands, using the short time to grab his forehooves and pull him around again. But he simply clapped his forehooves together, causing Josh's hands to collide with each other. The pain was just too agonizing and Josh let go, falling meters through the air.

He was preparing to meet his fate but then he felt something under his arms. He stopped falling and was flying straight. He looked behind him and saw that Rainbow Dash had come to save him. He smiled and nodded. "We're even." He commented.

"Almost." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh looked straight ahead. "Follow that Changeling." He ordered and pointed.

There was a bit of a pursuit until all of a sudden, the Changeling started flying directly down. "Why's he doing that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I know why." Josh replied. "Land here. I'll do the rest."

Rainbow Dash complied and began to decrease her altitude. Josh just watched the Changeling get lower and lower and lower. His horn glowed, and he enveloped himself in a magic field. But when he reached the floor, he simply collided on impact.

Rainbow Dash dropped him off next to the area. The Changeling was obviously disorientated from the way he was looking around in a daze.

Josh walked over to him. "Yeah, I kinda sabotaged your little transport network. It's over, Zhengyi. Or whoever you are. You lost."

As Josh spoke, multiple Pegasus Royal Guard ponies appeared. 2 of them stood next to Changeling Zhengyi.

Josh walked up to him so he could get face to face. "But 1 question remains. Why? Why did you do all this? Why did you go through this trouble to try and obtain technology that's beyond your comprehension?"

"…Because…Because we must…take over…Equestria…" He was talking funny. He obviously suffered a concussion when he hit the ground.

"Whoever you are, I've seen it before in my world. In your hooves, this technology would probably be turned into a weapon of mass destruction. I'm not saying you have the intention of killing, but there's bound to be somepony out there who will. Also, you may do it accidently. You Changelings feed off love, don't you? What would there be to love if you destroyed everything? Go tell that to your queen."

He didn't respond. He simply remained silent. Whether this was because he didn't want to respond or down to the concussion, Josh wasn't sure. "However, I will offer you some advice." The Changeling pricked his ears up. Josh moved in a little closer. "The chemical that your body releases when love is experienced is called Phenylethylamin. Perhaps you could look into it and see if you can come up with less…aggressive ways of feeding on love. I'd even be happy to help, but you'd have to cooperate."

…

...Still no response…

Josh stood up and looked at the Pegasus ponies getting ready to take the Changeling away. He nodded at them. They nodded back and began to take him away.

He looked at Rainbow Dash. "Well, back to the Court Room and we'll finish this all up." He clicked his neck in both directions. "Ugh. I feel broken…could you give me a lift again?"

"Uh, sure." Rainbow Dash replied as she went behind him and slipped her forehooves under his arms.

"Thank you. Appreciate it very much." Josh said.

When they got back to the Court Room, Rainbow Dash flew them in through the window and put Josh down by the Defence's desk. Josh had more of a time to look around. He noticed Princess Celestia was there. He was surprised at first, but then he remembered that if he was declared guilty, it was then up to Celestia to arrange what to do with him.

"Well, the Defence is now ready, Your Honour." Josh said as he sat down on his chair and let out a deep sigh.

"Hmm…Mr. Valentine, could you please explain this? It's something that…uhh, 'Zhengyi' threw at me before you 2 flew out of the room."

"What's that?" He looked on the table, and his heart sank. It was his flash drive. With its contents laid out on a piece of paper.

He sighed. "I wasn't originally going to tell you this…but I guess I should now…" He took a deep breath and looked at Celestia. "I suppose you know that this world is based off a TV show from my world."

She nodded.

"Well…what I didn't mention was that it was for a…younger audience…"

"A much younger audience." The Judge added. "Along with the opposite gender apparently."

"Yeah. That's true. It's complicated…" He then went on to explaining about the whole 'Brony' phenomenon. About why he liked the show and why other men liked it. About why he hid it from them because it was awkward and embarrassing.

"And that's why I didn't tell you straight away…" He finished. "I hope you don't think any less of me…"

The room was silent for a few seconds. Then Celestia started chuckling. Which slowly formed into laughter. The Judge began to join in. Then eventually, so did everypony else.

"We don't think of you any differently at all! We're not embarrassed or freaked out or anything!" Celestia replied.

Josh smiled and blushed a bit.

"But why don't we get your verdict out the way first, shall we?" Celestia said and then looked at the Judge.

"Oh! Yes, ahem…I find the defendant and the accused, Josh Valentine and Rainbow Dash, not guilty!" The Judge declared and banged his gavel. Everypony cheered as his sentence got handed down.

Josh stood up and sighed. "Finally…" He said to himself. He rested his palms on the desk and hunched over.

"Are you okay?" Celestia asked.

"To be honest Your Highness, I'm just about ready to pass out."

Celestia chuckled. "Get some rest. You've earned it." She said and looked at the Judge.

"Oh, yes. Court is adjourned!" He announced and then banged his gavel.

Josh gathered some stuff up and then left the Court Room.

"Josh, you did it!" Twilight said as she came up to hug him in the Defendants lobby.

"Heh. And just a bit shaken." He replied as he returned her hug.

Twilight pushed away a bit to talk to him. "What do you mean? If it weren't for you, we'd never have Zhengyi was a Changeling and we might've never seen their attack coming. You're a hero!"

"…I suppose that's one way of looking at it…"

Twilight thumped him in a playful manner. "Don't be silly, that's the only way of looking at i-" she stopped as she saw Josh wince in pain.

"Don't worry. I just clipped my ankle on the window frame as he flew out of the Court Room. It's a little rattled, but nothing that won't heal with time."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Twilight replied.

"No worries." Josh said and smiled. "No harm done."

He got together everything that was his and then headed for the shuttle he had placed outside the entrance to the Court. To his surprise, nopony had snooped in to have a look. He thought it would draw a crowd.

He met up with the rest of his friends outside. "So what you going to do now, Josh?" Asked Twilight.

"I'm gonna go home, have a bath…and do exactly what I said in Court: Pass out." He joked. "You can come and see me later or tomorrow if you want."

"Probably tomorrow. I'm completely exhausted after that little adventure." Twilight replied.

"Sure thing." Josh said as he climbed inside the shuttle. "Can I give any of you a lift back?" He asked.

"Uh, I'll make my own way back." Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" _'It's not like her to say that…'_

"Positive." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Umm…so will I…I don't like speeds…or heights…if that's okay with you…" Fluttershy replied quietly.

"I was hoping for some travel time so I could plan your celebration party, so yeah, I will too!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Uhh…" Twilight shrugged. "Guess we're coming back on the train later then." She replied.

Josh smiled. "Okay then. See you all later. Or tomorrow." He then pressed a button to close the door.

The others watched as Josh left and shot off into the distance. "And he'll be back in Ponyville round about…

…

Now." Twilight commented. "Well, let's catch the next train, shall we?" Twilight suggested.

They all walked back to their rooms that Princess Celestia had arranged for them at the Castle to pack their things. Whilst Twilight was packing, she heard the creek of the door opening and the hoof steps of somepony coming through the door. "Who is it?" She asked as she spun around.

She saw Rainbow Dash standing in her room. "Hi Twi, you got a minute?"

"Uhh…I guess…"

Rainbow Dash walked up to her. "Would you mind…helping me out with something when we get back to Ponyville?"

"Uh, sure...what do you want…?"

"Well…a…book."

Twilight chuckled. "Rainbow Dash, there's no need to hide that you like reading from us anymore. I can just-"

"No, it's about something else...I just wanted your help…and advice…and help me translate some of the stuff in the book into normal talk…and because you're the only pony that kinda knows. Well I think you are anyway…"

Her words carried enough torque to turn the cogs in Twilight's brain. "Oh. Right. Sure. I'll help you. Come down to the Library whenever you're ready. I'll be there anytime."

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Thanks, Twilight." She replied and then turned to leave.

Twilight returned to packing her things.

* * *

_**Well, that's this chapter down. Hope you enjoyed it. I think I could've done better with it, but hey, that's how things go sometimes.**_

**_I'll try and get more updates out quicker, but I can't promise anything. But I finish College for Christmas on the 20th, so I'm hoping to do some more over the holidays. :)_**

**_PLEASE REVIEW! :)_**


	15. The Start of Something Special

_**"JOOOOOOOSH! IT'S BEEN LIKE 3 MONTHS! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?"**_

_**Well, ever since I went to my first brony meetup (which was around the time of my last update), my life has changed completly. I now have friends and a proper life for the first time in years. Although things are a little complicated. I don't wanna talk about it. It's kinda embarrassing...**_

* * *

The sun was beating down over Equestria on the bright morning. The town of Ponyville was beginning to stir with life, with ponies walking and flying around town.

At the other end, Josh sat in his house slumped back in the couch watching TV. He had taken quite a few bruises and bangs yesterday, so he told himself he was gonna take it easy on himself today to give himself some time to heal. He wasn't even dressed yet. He was in his underwear wearing his dressing gown. He had some time to think. He'd only been here a week, but it felt like months. Hell, not even that. Years. He knew loads of ponies so well and he just felt like he belonged, even though he was amongst an entire different species. For the first time in his life, he felt truly…happy. Like there were no flaws. Like there was no catch to anything.

He suddenly heard a knock at the door, only just over the noise of the TV. "Come in, it's open." He called, not moving his eyes from the TV.

He heard the door open, somepony step inside, and the door close. As they got closer, he took a quick glance to see who it was. "Oh, hi Rainbow Dash."

"Hey." She replied, looking at the TV. "What'cha watchin'?"

"My first Daytona 500 victory in 2016. We're coming to the final 2 laps. C'mon, grab a seat and watch." Josh said as he patted the free space next to him.

Rainbow Dash flew over the arm of the chair and perched next to him.

"2 laps to go, 2 laps to go!" The commentator called on the TV.

"Jimmie Johnson in the 48 is leading this race out front with his teammate Jeff Gordon in the 24. Jeff Gordon hasn't won here in almost a decade, no doubt he'll try to claw his way back to Victory Lane."

"Not so fast Darrell, Josh Valentine in the 53 with his teammate Zack Lando in the 49 are coming up fast from 8thth and 9th spots."

"Looks like tandem drafting to me, Mike. Much harder to do since the release of NASCAR's latest generation of car in 2013. But they seem to be able to make it work. Let's go down to Lando's radio."

Josh and Zack were running 3 wide down the backstretch with 2 other cars. "Take it easy here, Zack. Check your temps for me." Zack's crew chief said over the radio.

"They're both blinkin' but I'm staying put. Josh can win this, he just needs a push." He responded.

The camera changed to a shot from the roof of Josh's car. He had the speed advantage going down the backstretch, and was about half a car length behind the next car in front of him.

Going into turn 3, he just about managed to clear the cars underneath him, but Zack still had about a fifth of his car over the fender of the other. Josh moved down and slotted into the low side of the track, getting underneath the other car.

Since Zack wasn't clear, he pushed the car in front of him until he was clear. He then dived to the inside to get behind and start pushing Josh.

"The way these guys drive, they just put so much trust in each other. Zack could've easily hung Josh out with no backup there, but he didn't."

"These drivers have been teammate's right from the start, the bond they have must be special to put so much trust in each other coming to the white flag."

Josh managed to take 2 more cars on the inside coming to the white flag, moving them up to 4th and 5th. "White flag, white flag, here we go! Last lap!"

"No more cautions. 199 laps later, this is the only one every driver worries about leading."

Josh didn't hold anything back going into turn 1. He rested his bumper on the rear end of the car in front of him, hoping to try and push him out of the way. It worked. The car got loose and slid up the track, giving Josh the position. The car in front of him moved out of the way. He was obviously working with the car Josh just pushed out the way and was going to pick him up.

"Calm it down Josh, if you keep bumping out of the way like that, you're gonna get yourself wrecked coming to the line." Josh's crew chief said over the radio.

Coming off of turn 2, Josh was getting into a position to pass for the lead. There was another tandem team in front of him. They blocked low so Josh moved high. They blocked again, so Josh moved low. Zack managed to move in perfect synchronisation with him. However, the car leading couldn't see where Josh was moving, because the car behind him was blocking the view in his rear view mirror. And since he couldn't see what was coming, he just tried to move with his partner to stay hooked up.

Josh weaved back and forth down the backstretch. At first everyone though he was out of his mind, but then his reasoning became clear. The 2 cars in front of him, in an effort to block him, became detached from each other's bumpers. The lead car tried to get back in position, but just clipped the car behind ever so slightly to send him into the wall right-hand-side door first. "Ouch, that's Kasey Khane in the wall!"

Josh dived below the apron to avoid the wreck, even though he didn't need to. Then all of a sudden, smoke started billowing out of Zack's car. "Oh, there goes Lando's engine, and with less than half a lap to go! Tough break for Zack Lando!"

Without the drafting help, it felt like a huge parachute had just been released from the back of Josh's car. But it didn't really matter, because he saw the field wrecking behind him trying to avoid the previous crash and Zack's slow car.

"Looks like Valentine's got this one in the bag, Mike."

"Wait a minute Darrell, look! 2 cars that got through that wreck. They're hooking up and coming up fast on Josh Valentine. It's gonna be a 3-way battle for the finish!"

Josh ran right at the bottom of the track to try and block them coming out of turn 4. "Valentine blocks! But they go high!"

The lead car gets alongside Josh going into the tri-oval. Josh moved up the track and door'd him. "They touch!" But neither car budged. They touched again, but they didn't move. The car behind dived to the inside, seeing the opportunity, and made it 3 wide coming to the line.

"It's gonna be close! The fans are going nuts!" The track roared with the cheers from the crowd of 250,000 race fans. The cars came across the line and then "By a one thousandth of a second, making this a 3 way tie closest finish in NASCAR history with Darlington in 2003 and Talladega in 2011, Josh Valentine wins it!"

The camera moved to an inside view of Josh's car, where Josh was cheering and punching the air. He lowered the window netting and started patting the roof of his car.

"I was summoned to NASCAR's race official office shortly afterwards. Kasey Khane claimed that I passed for position beneath the yellow line down the backstretch on the last lap. NASCAR deemed it as wreck avoidance, and as such, I didn't get penalised." Josh commented.

"Sweet. Best finish ever." She replied.

"It was…impressive…" Josh replied.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Why? Would you have done it differently?"

"Mmmm…little things…but not much different." He hit the pause button and rolled over to look at her. "Anyway, what brings you here? What can I do for you?

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Meh, nothin' much. I just wanted to hang out, that's all."

"Fair enough. I'm not dressed, but fair enough." He chuckled.

"It doesn't bother me." Rainbow Dash said and chuckled. "Anyway, I haven't had a proper chance to talk to you since…back then. And back there you said you had something you wanted to tell me…what was it?"

Josh's heart skipped a beat and he felt his muscles lock in place. _'Is this it? No distractions 3__rd__ time round?'_ He took a deep breath. "Well…I just wanted to say that…I…really…admire you. Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash didn't look too surprised. "Well DUH! Who doesn't!? I'm awesome!"

"No. As in…" He took her right forehoof in his right hand. "I really admire our friendship, Rainbow Dash. I've always wanted to meet someone with a similar personality to mine."

"Similar personality? I hate to break this to you, but we are not similar!"

"We have our differences, but pick away the excess, we're the same. We both have similar interests. We both share similar interests. Racing, flying-"

"Wait a minute, you like flying?"

"Well…sorta. My Grandfather was a pilot. That's where my interest in flight originally spawned from. It's up there, but not as much as racing. I love cars. And planes. And boats. And basically anything with an engine that goes."

"Oh. Cool."

"But anyway, you've been a much better friend in this past week than anyone else I've known all my life."

"Heh-heh, thanks." Rainbow Dash replied and smiled. "You can be awesome sometimes too…"

"Sometimes? Gee, thanks." Josh replied sarcastically. "But seriously, tell me your exact thoughts of me when we first met."

Rainbow Dash froze for a minute as she thought. "Well…when we first met, and you first started talking about your cars, I thought you were gonna be pretty awesome…I uh. I had doubts when you, uhh, started saying fancy stuff. And uh, like…talking to Twilight and stuff…but…some of it's cool. And then, in Cloudsdale, where you stood up to Billy…I…well, uhh…" She blushed slightly. "I guess you could say that for a split second, I loved you."

"Ha-ha, yeah, I bet." Josh replied.

"And…after all you've done for me…I don't really know what else to say…" She finished. "Okay, that's me, now you."

"Huh? I thought I already said."

"Josh, you may think you can keep a blank, emotionless face, but after getting to know you over the past week, I can read you much better. You have something else on your mind. Tell me what it is."

Josh breathed in deeply. His limbs felt like they were going light. They felt shivery and shaky, but they weren't. _'Well, no interruptions this time. Here goes nothing…or perhaps I can use this to my advantage…'_

"Okay, I'll tell you. But only if you cooperate too."

"What!?" Rainbow Dash flinched back.

Josh smiled. "You don't exactly have the best poker face either, Rainbow Dash. I'll tell you what's on my mind if you tell me first."

"Uhh…ugh…" She looked away, blushing a tad. "Okay. But you have to start. I'll join if we're both thinking the same."

"Deal." Josh replied. _'Well, it was worth a shot. I think it got me somewhere though.'_ "Okay, well…as I've been saying, you're one of the best friends I've ever had, Rainbow Dash. I love the fact that we share similar personalities and interests. You were my favourite character when this was just a TV show back in my world." He felt a lump in his throat. Like his neck was being compressed. "And I…kinda, sorta…developed a thing for you…"

Rainbow Dash flicked her head around and looked him in the eyes. "You have a…thing for me…?"

'_Ah fuck it! Nothing to lose now!'_ "Rainbow Dash" he put his right hand behind her head, brushing his fingertips through her mane. "What I'm trying to say is" he slowly pulled her head towards him and leant forward. He kept going until their noses touch, making them both blush. "I love you…" he whispered softly.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head down and flattened her ears. "I…uhh…you…love me…?"

Josh chuckled sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and slouched back. "You must think I'm crazy. We're a completely different species and...Well…I guess that gave me no chance to begin with…"

Her eyes slowly rolled up his body until they locked onto his eyes. "Well…I…kinda like you too…"

Josh's eyes beamed. "You do!?" He immediately sat up straight.

"Well…yeah…" She smiled sheepishly and blushed.

Josh tried to hold back his smile just enough so he didn't look like a crazy idiot. "Rainbow Dash" He picked her up underneath her forelegs and laid her on his lap. "Will you be my special somepony?" His cheeks went as red as one of Applejack's apples.

Rainbow Dash wrapped her forehooves around his neck. "I thought you'd never ask…" She replied.

They remained still and silent for a few seconds. Both their hearts pounding. The silence began to get a little awkward. "So…would it be allright if I were to…kiss you?"

"You already have before." Rainbow Dash replied.

"I meant a proper kiss." He replied.

"Heh. You've never done this before, have you?"

"Well…" Josh looked away. "No. No I haven't…at least not like this…" He quickly looked back at her. "Have you?"

"Once. A long LONG time ago…I was still in Flight School…"

"Right…well, we can both start fresh then."

"Heh, yeah, I suppose…"

Josh moved down and planted his lips on hers. Rainbow Dash didn't try to resist and simply opened her mouth. Josh ran his tongue down along the roof of her mouth whilst caressing the back of her head with his fingertips. Rainbow Dash retaliated by forcing back his tongue with hers. The larger muscles in her tongue meant she did it with ease. She could now start rolling her tongue around his mouth. Her longer tongue meant she could get really close to the back of his throat.

After a few more seconds, Josh pulled away. "Was that a good start?"

"Sure was…" Rainbow Dash replied. "But you're not very good with your tongue."

"My tongue isn't as long as yours. And it doesn't help that you have this muzzle that's hard to get in." He ran his thumb and index finger down either side of her muzzle to represent its length.

Rainbow Dash moved up to kiss him again, but Josh stopped her. "Hey, we're just getting started. Want to save some for later."

"Oh. Right."

"Besides, all I want to do is cuddle."

"Ugh, no way! Spare me the mushy stuff." Rainbow Dash retorted as she sat up.

Josh opened his arms. "Give me a cuddle, Dashie!"

"…Please don't call me Dashie. Skittles is bad enough…"

Suddenly, without hesitation, Josh enclosed his arms around her. "Hugging!"

"Hey, get off!"

Josh laughed as he used his weight to pull himself and her down onto their sides. "You love it really." He teased. "But seriously, does anyone actually know about…you and me? I can think of a few ponies who might've gathered, but I don't really think that there's anypony in particular who directly knows."

"I told Twilight." Rainbow Dash replied and grinned. "Well…I didn't, like, tell her tell her, but I think I might've given it away at some point…"

"You mean you didn't directly tell her?"

"Yeah, that. But I was asking for her advice and some books on…" She blushed. "Telling you…"

"Oh, I see…"

"What about you? How'd you tell me?"

"Well, I tried to tell you before, but we kept getting interrupted."

"…I wouldn't call them interruptions…unless we're thinking of different things…"

"Either way they were…unsettling…" Josh grabbed the controller and handed it to her. "Pick something to watch. Anything you want."

"Errr…" Rainbow Dash rolled over to see the TV. Josh used his hands to stop her rolling off the edge of the couch. He starting running his hand in an oval motion on her chest and down her body whilst she was surfing through the programs.

"…What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm giving you a belly rub. Why? Don't you like it?"

"No, no, go ahead. I love them." She spread herself out even more so Josh could reach. "It just felt funny…I haven't had a belly rub since I was a filly…"

"Well, you'll get a lot more from me." He replied and winked. "Ooo, ooo, Race of Champions 2020, that's a good one! That one was held only 20 miles from my hometown."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow Dash replied as she clicked it.

Josh took the controller out of her hooves. "I'll skip to my parts." He said as he started fast forwarding.

They sat there watching and cuddling for a while. Josh was only interested in his parts, but he didn't skip through all of it just in case Rainbow Dash wanted to watch them.

Rainbow Dash glanced up at the clock. "Oh hay, I'm late for cloud duty." She jumped off the couch.

"Really?" Josh replied as he sat up himself.

"Yeah, I might still be able to make it if I fly fast enough. But there's not much to do today, so I might be able to get off early."

"Allright. I've got a few things I want to do and then I want to go talk to Twilight. I'm sure she's got a few things on her mind now that the storms died down."

"Allright, cool. Just don't get yourself blown up."

"Hehe, I'll try not to. Nah, we won't be doing anything like that." He leant forward and gave Rainbow Dash a peck on the lips. "Catch you later, Skittles."

"See ya!" Rainbow Dash spared no time in taking off and flying out the door. Not even bothering to close it behind her.

Josh got up to walk over to the front door and closed it. He stood there in silence for a few seconds, and then started chuckling. "You sure know how to time it, Skittles…" He said to himself.

He went upstairs to take a shower. It took him about 30 minutes to get washed, dressed, and do his hair. As he locked the front door, he noticed the cars sitting on his driveway. He thought for a second. _'Why don't I drive? I don't see why not.'_ He unlocked the door, hopped back inside, and then grabbed the keys that were sitting on a chest of drawers in the hallway, and then returned back outside.

He beeped the car unlocked and stepped through the door. He pulled his seatbelt across and put the key in the ignition.

He chuckled. "I love my new life." He said as he turned the key and fired up the engine.

He put it in gear and pulled away, heading for Twilight's place. He didn't go too fast or push too hard around bends, because he didn't see the need to.

As he saw the library in sight, he switched the engine off, pulled the keys out, and coasted towards it with his foot gently resting on the brake. He undid his seatbelt and got ready to get out of the car.

When he got to what he felt was a suitable distance, he came to a complete stop and hopped out the car, locking it as he did.

He walked around to the front door and then knocked 3 times. Within a few seconds, he heard the sound of hoofsteps and the door flung open. "Hey, Twilight." He said.

"Oh hi, Josh." She replied.

She looked like she was about to say something, but Josh began before her. "Now that we've got what we need, you up for some more...experimenting? I was gonna say adventures, but we've had quite a few of those."

"Haha, I'd love too. Hold on," she turned around "come on in." She said as she headed into the library.

Josh stepped inside and closed the door. He was hoping Twilight was gonna have something for him, but all he caught was her heading upstairs. He quickly followed her.

He was greeted by a mount of papers in her room along with Spike looking like he was gonna be sick. "High mail traffic?" He questioned.

"Sort of. Princess Celestia is panicking because it's only 10 days till her birthday and she still hasn't got everything sorted out."

"Panicking? It's not like her to panic…"

"Yeah, well, she wants to do something a little less formal, but she's been having arguments with Princess Luna because she wants to stick to tradition."

"I see…"

"I've been sending her suggestions back and forth since this morning."

"What do you think?" Josh asked.

"Huh?"

"What do you think she should do? What do you think of her ideas?"

Twilight took a minute to think. She obviously hadn't thought about this before. What would she do in Celestia's position…? "Well, quite frankly, I think she's asking the wrong pony. I know nothing. If there's anypony here in Ponyville, it would be Pinkie."

"Oh yeah, totally." Josh replied.

"And also, I would stop worrying about little things, since they'll always be bugging you."

"I understand what you mean. I get that a lot. Too much."

"And…well, I can't really think of much else, other than leave it to Pinkie Pie and-"

"Have you tried offering OUR assistance? Between the 7 of us, I'm pretty sure we can put together something pretty neat."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. "And what do you know about parties?"

"Absolutely nothing, but I know how to have a good time, and that's what matters." Josh replied.

"…Well, I'm sure we could come up with some better ideas…" Twilight replied, chuckling at some of the things Princess Celestia had sent her. "Okay, let's get back to your place." She motioned with her hoof. "Lead on."

Josh nodded and turned around. He headed back down the stairs, Twilight right behind him. He opened the door and held it open to let her out. She then closed it behind her with her magic.

Josh stepped into the car and got the keys out of his pocket. Twilight also got in the passenger seat in her own time. He put the key in the ignition. He put the car in reverse and pulled away. He built up a bit of speed and then flung the steering wheel around to the left. The car veered right and slid around 180 degrees.

"I've always wanted to do that." Josh commented as he put it in a forward gear.

"You're crazy." Twilight replied.

Josh shrugged. "Well, being sane doesn't win races. You need to be a crazy idiot to win races."

"…Crazy I get, but idiot?"

"Only idiots are stupid enough to drive the car on the ragged edge of out of control. That's how you go fast. A sane person would think twice about it because they value their life and know about the risks. But then you'll never go anywhere. A great man once said, 'you need to become an idiot like the pros if you want to drive like one. When racing starts to scare you, it's time to hang up your helmet.' What do you think goes through Rainbow Dash's mind when she tries to pull a stunt at high speeds?"

"Hmmm…well, things are starting to make a bit more sense now…" Twilight replied. "Speaking of Rainbow Dash, how did it go?"

Josh glanced at her before returning his eyes to the would-be road. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I know it's you. You're the only logical subject in Equestria that Rainbow Dash would have a crush on, besides the Wonderbolts."

"What if she's meeting somepony in secret that we don't know about?"

"What if you stop stalling and just say it already?"

Josh sighed. "We…I love her. And she loves me. But first of all, I want to know how you know."

"She came to me asking for advice. I didn't know what she was talking about first off, because I don't have any experience, but then she started asking for books. That's why she asked for my help. She never told me who the lucky guy was, but I figured it out."

"Ahh…I wondered why she was a bit…sceptical…she said she might've indirectly told you…"

"Sooo…did you kiss her?"

Josh chuckled. "I'm beginning to understand why word spreads so fast around Equestria. Is nopony allowed to have their secrets?"

"I'm just curious. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to…"

"I'll talk to her later. As far as I know, you're the only one who knows about us."

"I see. And you want to make sure you're ready before you announce it."

Josh nodded. "Correct. I'm not quite sure how interspecies relationships will be taken here…"

"Oh I doubt anypony will oppose the idea, but…I can see a few ponies…possibly overanalysing, if you know what I mean…"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Josh replied. They were nearing his house. "But all should be fine."

He pulled up outside and switched the engine off. "So what do you wanna do first?" He asked as he got out.

"I not really sure." Twilight replied as she got out and followed him to the door. "More universes?"

"Ehh…that's a little complicated. I could take you to see some history? My ancestors maybe? Also, there's something else…" They went through his house and out the back.

"What's that?"

He opened the door to the Shuttle. "I analysed the data I bought back from rescuing Zhengyi. It seems we were on the other side of the planet."

Twilight gasped. "You mean the Changelings don't even live in Equestria!?"

"Not Equestria as we know It." josh replied. "But I fear that since I disrupted their transport network, we may have stranded some."

"I doubt it. They wouldn't risk it twice. Even their Queen tried it before."

"Mm. I suppose. Hey, there's a thought. We didn't check to see if any of them went through the wormhole." Josh immediately moved to another console. "I'm going to launch a Probe and suspend it in the wormhole. Then I'll get it to scan for residue using data already gathered."

Josh hit a few buttons to prepare it. "That's it armed. Allright Twilight, here's what I want you to do." He moved out of the way to let her sit down. "When I give the word, press this button." He pointed to the button.

"Allright." She replied.

Josh moved down the Helm seat and tried to fire up the engines, but all he got was a warning signal. "Antimatter depleted. Running on Emergency Power." The Computer spoke.

"Damn, we're outta fuel. And I have no idea where to find Antimatter." Josh rose from his seat and walked back up.

"Can't you find an alternative here in Equestria? Or isn't Emergency Power enough for what we want to do?"

"Possibly, but I've got another idea." He replied as he took a seat at another console. "I remember reading something about Antimatter being produced in storm clouds a few months back. Computer, cross-reference Antimatter and storm clouds then display the results."

The Computer beeped in acknowledgement and suddenly displayed a wealth of information on the screen. "Perfect."

"What is it?"

"Storm clouds produce a tiny bit of Antimatter when they go off, which is then discharged upwards into the atmosphere and, obviously, on into space." He looked at Twilight. "I could lock onto it with a Transporter and beam it directly into the Containment Tanks. Not exactly standard procedure but" he chuckled "I don't really know what is anymore. They produce miniscule amounts though. Back on Earth, it would take centuries to fill the tank with storm clouds of our grade. But I get the impression that they aren't exactly normal storm clouds here in Equestria…"

"Haha, right. So, now all we need is storm clouds."

"Yep…" Josh smiled. "We need Rainbow Dash."

"She's probably at too high an altitude to see or hear us. I could see if I could get any of the other Pegasi around Ponyville to get her? Or even help us themselves?"

"Nah, we can just wait. She said she would come back here after she was finished working. But I've got an idea to pass the time. You wanted to have a better understanding on how things work on this, right? Why don't I show you a few episodes of Star Trek that explain."

"I'd like that! Can we do that?"

"Sure. To the living room." Josh replied as he got out of his chair.

They walked down into the living room. "Make yourself comfortable, and I'll go get my box sets." He said as he left the room and travelled up the stairs.

Just under a minute later, he returned down the stairs with a pile of boxes and cases that went above his head. "There's literally months of entertainment here, but we don't have months. So I've got a few episodes already in mind for you to watch." He took one case out of the pile and set it aside. He then organised the rest of the cases in a small pyramid on the floor.

Twilight used her magic to bring the case he'd set aside to her face so she could read it. "Star Trek. The Next Generation." She read. "Season 5."

"There's a good episode in there where they test a new technology for faster than light travel, preventing the need for Warp Drive. It then goes down in depth of how faster than light travel is possible, and then explains it more."

"Oh I see. But how exactly does this apply?"

Josh looked at her and smiled. "Watch and find out." He replied.

**\/\/\/\/**

Time flew by as Josh showed her a lot of episodes spanning all the series. Twilight even made some of the choices herself after reading the synopsis on the back of the cases.

"Although there are quite a few inconsistencies here. For example, back in that Voyager episode you just showed me, how did they use that Transporter system thing to beam Chakotay back when the Shields were up? You can't transport through Shields can you?" Twilight questioned.

Josh chuckled. "Those are these little things we call bloopers. It's just an area where the script writers screwed up a little bit. Usually their ignorable."

"So it couldn't actually happen?"

Josh shook his head. "Not unless they included some other type of plot device that allowed them to…"

"I see. I suppose it's the same thing for that The Next Generation final episode? Where that other ship is flying at Warp 13, but nothing can go past Warp 10."

"Well, at the time, that hadn't been though through until Voyager had aired. A few years after The Next Generation had finished."

"So some things got a bit overlooked?" Twilight finished.

Josh nodded.

"I see…"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "That'll be Rainbow Dash. Hold on, I'll get it." Josh said as he rose from his seat.

He walked out the living room and towards the front door. It wasn't locked, but he still opened it to find Rainbow Dash standing in the doorway.

"Dashie! How was work?" He asked as he moved away to let her in.

"Not bad, same old, same old." She replied as she walked in. She walked past him and down the hallway.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He asked sarcastically as he strategically placed himself close to her by walking a bit faster than she was.

She stopped. "What's that?" She asked as she turned her head around to face him.

Josh leant down and hugged her. "That."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "You don't have to hug me at every opportunity, you know…"

"Oh don't be so boring!" Josh replied. He pulled away and looked at her. "I don't HAVE to. But I WANT to." He said then winked. "Don't you love me enough?"

"I love you, but…anypony could be looking…"

"Aww, let them look." Josh replied as he embraced her in another hug.

Rainbow Dash sighed reluctantly returned his hug.

"Are you two done?" A voice came from the living room.

Josh opened his eyes to see Twilight standing at the entrance to the living room looking rather impatient. "Oh…ahem, of course." He stood up.

Rainbow Dash glanced at Twilight before looking back at Josh, blushing a tiny bit.

"Anyway Skittles, I know you've probably seen enough clouds for one day, but I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

"Anything. What is it?"

"I need some storm clouds. Can you get them?"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Storm clouds? What for?"

"The shuttle in my back garden is pretty much out of fuel. Its fuel source is a substance called Antimatter. I don't know where to find Antimatter here in Equestria, but I know that small amounts are produced in storm clouds when they go off. I was wondering if you could get some storm clouds for me to fill the tanks with."

"Ohh…sure, I'll get one for you. Be back in a flash." She turned around and headed for the door and stepped outside.

"Bring them round the back." Josh said just before she took off.

It didn't take long for Rainbow Dash to return. She was pushing a storm cloud in her hooves and navigated it round to Josh's back garden, where Josh was waiting outside the shuttle.

"Okay, that's perfect. Move it directly above please." He asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded and pushed it directly above the shuttle. "That'll do fine. Just leave it right there. I'm gonna go inside, and when I tell you to set it off, set it off."

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash replied.

Josh nodded and went through the door. He leapt backwards into a chair and used his inertia to spin it round. He tapped a few buttons on the console and entered in a few parameters.

"…Okay, ready. Fire away." Josh called.

"Fire in the hole!" Rainbow Dash replied as she smacked down on the cloud with her forehooves.

The lightning shot out of the cloud with a loud boom that echoed for quite a way and impacted on the grass, singeing it a bit.

"Well, did you get it!?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew into the shuttle.

"I got a little bit, but it's really not that much. Has that cloud got anything left?"

"It's got a little more to give. You want some more?"

"Please."

"Allright, but I can't predict where the lightning will strike." Rainbow Dash replied as she turned to go back up.

"The hull should be strong enough to withstand in the event that lightning does impact on the shuttle."

Rainbow Dash pounded the cloud a few more times before finally it was all out.

"Okay, that's it. It's completely dry." She said through pants as she went back to Josh. "Is that enough?"

Josh shook his head. "Just under 5 minutes of additional power according to the computer calculations."

"WHAT!? That was a pretty big cloud! Are you serious!?"

"This thing usually runs on TONS on antimatter. That cloud only produced grams."

"…well I ain't doing anymore. I'm beat."

"Don't worry. It's got enough in it to fly for a few minutes. Could I take it to the weather factory and just plug it straight in from there?"

"…" Rainbow Dash shrugged. "You could try, I guess. I should be able to get them to let you use 'em."

"Okay, thanks. Let's go." He hopped out of his chair and popped his head around the side. "Twilight, we're going to Cloudsdale to the weather factory. You coming?"

"Uhh…I guess…" She replied, sounding a little unsure.

Josh signalled with his hand for her to come in. Twilight promptly made her way into the shuttle.

Josh shut the door and then moved towards the front of the ship to sit in the Helm seat. He punched a few things into the console and the shuttle rose off the ground. He slid his fingers across the controls and the nose pitched up and moved onwards.

Rainbow Dash suddenly jumped over him into his lap, startling him. "Thanks, I've got it from here." She said with a cocky voice. She used the edge of her hooves to use the controls, since they were too narrow to use for her.

"Dash, careful-" The ship started veering from side to side.

"What they hay is that!?" Rainbow Dash complained, fighting the controls. "Talk about delayed reactions!"

"They're a little sluggish, try easing into them a bit more." Josh instructed. He grabbed hold of her hooves to try and help her, but she shoved him away.

"No, I wanna do it!" She said, slowing down. After a bit more wrestling with the controls, she finally managed to put it in a straight line.

"You need to be more smooth and precise when flying one of these things. I knew that because we have the same problem in the 21st century, and it doesn't seem like they've solved it in the 24th."

"It just feels so…like you said, sluggish…"

"This thing probably weighs more than double the weight of my house. All that weight makes it unresponsive. Airplanes have the same problem back in the 21st century. You've just got to be smooth on the inputs and try and think ahead."

"Think ahead?"

Josh nodded and pointed out the window, causing Rainbow Dash to look to. "That's Cloudsdale. We've got to go around it I presume. Don't think about where we are now, but think where we'll be in a few seconds if we remain on this course."

"…Okay, I got it."

"Okay then, now take us to the weather factory." Josh replied as he made a slight speed adjustment for her.

Her first correction to go around the city took them about a bit too far. "No so sharp on the Manoeuvring Thrusters."

"I know, I'm trying, be quiet!"

"Hey now, don't get frustrated." Josh said. He rubbed her mane and down her back. "You're doing just fine."

She flew around it a bit more before coming to the weather factory. "That's it there." She said and pointed with her hoof.

"Lovely, I'll park and you go get everything sorted."

"Sure, sure." She replied as she hopped out and towards the back. Josh retook the controls on his fingertips.

She opened the door and flew out, the door closing behind her automatically. Josh glanced out the window to see where she was flying. He followed her around for the most part, but then went up and over the rest of the way to get to an alternative entrance.

He went around the back of the factory where he found the rainbow river flowing out of it. He dropped down and went in via that way. "Well, where to?" He asked Twilight.

"I'm not a Pegasus, how should I know?" Twilight replied.

"…I'll just take it in as deep as I can." Josh replied as he made some adjustments.

He flew in as deep as he could before restrictions got in the way, like the fact that the factory was segmented off by a wall. He stopped just shy of it and set it on autopilot to hold it in position, so it wouldn't fall through the cloud.

"Do you think that cloud walking spell will still have its effects?" Josh asked Twilight.

"It's a 3 day spell, so it should've worn off. Either that or very nearly worn out. I'll cast it on you again just in case."

"I was just about to suggest you do." Josh replied as he walked closer to her.

Twilight quickly performed the spell on Josh and then Josh hopped out of the door, Twilight right behind him. The door automatically closed as they stepped out.

"Right. We've been shown this before, let's just go on in." Josh said as he headed for the first door.

"Right behind you." Twilight replied as she followed him.

Josh sometimes stopped and asked for directions along the way, but not too often. Eventually, he met up with Rainbow Dash somewhere in the middle of the factory. More specifically, bumped into.

"Well, what did they say?"

"No storms scheduled for a while, so you can use up all we've got."

Josh smiled. "Awesome. Because I get the impression I'm gonna have to use all you got. Do I need to go anywhere, or are you gonna bring 'em all to me?"

"I'll bring 'em all more or less to you, but then they're all yours." Rainbow Dash replied. "But from what I've seen, you don't even need to do anything."

"Perfect. Thanks, Skittles. I'll be waiting at the end of the factory." Josh said as he turned.

"I'll be right there." Rainbow Dash replied as she flew off.

Josh and Twilight made their way back to the shuttle, which was nice and peacefully hovering a few inches above the cloud. Just above, he was amazed to see all the clouds Rainbow Dash was gathering. There were loads there, and they just kept coming. He came to the conclusion that she wasn't doing it on her own.

He hopped in and took position at the console. He tapped a few buttons to get a look at the clouds. "Oh look at that. They're brimming with Antimatter. Perfect."

"Enough to fill the ship?"

"No, but enough to power it for a while." He started hitting a few buttons. "I'll begin transporting it now. Hopefully there won't be any disruptions."

"Disruptions?"

"I've never done this before. I don't know what happens when you deprive storm clouds of Antimatter."

"Nothing I think. Well, logically speaking anyway. You're taking something explosive out of it. So if anything, they should be LESS dangerous." Twilight replied.

"Yeah I'm thinking the same, but I'm not entirely convinced." Josh replied as his hands flew across the console, locking on to all the storm clouds and getting what he needed out of them.

A few minutes went passed before the storm clouds were finally depleted. Rainbow Dash flew through the door. "Okay, that's all the clouds we had in storage. If you want more, we're gonna have to make 'em."

Josh took a look at the Antimatter Storage Tanks. "50 percent full. Good enough. Okay Dashie, that'll do. Now we can go back."

"You sure? 50 percent doesn't sound like a lot."

"It's plenty enough. That and I don't wanna be waiting all day for more to be produced. I might disrupt the weather more than I already have."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "If you say so. Can I fly it back?"

Josh chuckled. "As long as you can keep it in a straight line this time." He said as he patted his lap.

Rainbow Dash grabbed his arm. "Nu-uh, I don't need you babying me. Let me at it." She pulled Josh out of the seat. Josh could've easily resisted, but he chose not to.

Rainbow Dash took her position in the seat and laid her forehooves over the controls. She sharply jerked the ship around and flew it out.

'_Talk about easy does it…' _Josh thought to himself.

Rainbow Dash kept it in a relatively straight line back to his house. She did that by making very little course corrections. She wanted to try and land it, but Josh wouldn't let her, because he wanted it parked in a specific way.

He relaxed and let out a breath as it touched the ground. "Now, what where we doing before we ran out of gas?" Josh questioned.

"Gas? Josh, that was-"

"Gas means fuel, Twi. It originated from the word 'gasoline', which is what we put in cars."

"Oh, right. Anyway, I believe you were…gonna show me around." She replied with a point to the wormhole and a wink.

"Oh yeah, we were, weren't we? One second." Josh started tapping some buttons.

"Uhh…what are we doing?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, me and Twi were gonna be doing some more investigations into this thing. Now anyway, that should do it."

Josh hit a button and a blue beam shot out of the front of the ship into the wormhole.

"What's that?" Twilight asked.

"Just a little something I'm bouncing off the Main Deflector to get better scan readings. And we can send pulses down it too, making it easier to control and m-…"

"What?" Twilight asked, seeing a look of concern in Josh's eyes as he gazed at the console.

"I've detected a phase variance. You remember what that is, Twilight?"

"Isn't that fluctuations or oddities in natural and artificial emissions?"

"Correct." Josh replied. "Except these are artificial."

"Artificial? How can you tell?"

"Phase variances only occur in wormholes with use. The more it's used, the quicker they build up. But it usually takes centuries, sometimes even millenniums for that to happen. Therefore they must be artificial."

"I see. Why would whoever did this want to do that?"

"I've got a pretty good idea who did it." Josh replied. "But there are only 2 reasons to do it. 1, to collapse it, and 2, to shift its position."

"Position?"

Josh nodded. "More to the point, it makes it more unstable. Jumping randomly from place to place, time to time. There's not a lot we can do other than keep an eye on it."

"Oh, okay. Couldn't we go through to see if we can find whoever caused it?"

"It's probably already somewhere different by now. Meaning whoever went through it, if anyone at all, is stranded."

"Shouldn't we be worried that if they went back in time they could change history?" Twilight asked.

"Nah, I wouldn't think so. We're standing here now, aren't we? That proves that any changes that they did make were subtle, if any at all."

"Oh, I see…well…is there anything we can do other than speculate?"

Josh shook his head. "Unfortunately not. Anything we can do will take too long, and by the time we've worked it out, it'll be too late. But I know something we can do, I'll do what I was gonna do earlier. Suspend a Probe inside of it to monitor activity."

"Oh yeah, can I do that?" Twilight asked, laying her forehooves on the controls.

"Uh, sure." Josh replied. "You need to arm the-"

"I know how to do it." Twilight replied as she hit buttons.

"Okay…" _'Geez, I'm being made redundant here…'_

"Okay…and….Probe away." Twilight declared as she hit 2 buttons at once. A small grey object shot out the front of the ship. "I transferred controls to you."

Josh was surprised. _'How did she know how to do that?'_ "Okay, thanks." The console he was sitting at flickered as the controllayout changed. He made a few adjustments. "Okay, the probe should now suspend itself without falling out. The only thing we can do is keep an eye on it and see what happens."

"Right…well, come find me if anything changes." She replied as she headed for the door.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Josh asked, sounding surprised.

Twilight stopped and looked back at him. "I've got some reading to catch up on." She said with a smile. "I'll see you later." She said as she stepped out the door.

"Okay…bye…"

The sound of hoofsteps faded into the distance. A silence lingered until "What was that all about?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm not sure. I invite her over to do some research, and she leaves before we do barely any." Josh replied. "It's only when you arrived that she-…Oh, I think I know what it is."

"What?"

"She wanted to give me and you some privacy I bet." Josh replied with a smile. He placed a hand on her back. "Whaddya say we put it to use?" He said in a slightly sarcastic way.

"Ugh, I'm not in the mood." Rainbow Dash replied as she pushed him away.

"What's wrong? I love you, Rainbow."

"I love you too, but you don't need to express it all the time."

"Why not? I'm not doing any harm…" Josh replied. He then slowly formed a smug smile across his face. "Are you embarrassed?"

Rainbow Dash froze. "…I-"

"Computer, deactivate main viewer." Josh spoke before she could say anything.

The main front windows of the ship suddenly turned black. "Dim lighting." He continued. There was an acknowledgement beep and then the lights dimmed slightly. "Finally, seal all doors." The doors made a small hissing sound before an acknowledgement beep.

He then looked Rainbow Dash in the eye with the same smile on his face. "Still embarrassed?" He walked towards her. "No one else. Just you and me. No interruptions."

Rainbow Dash's legs were shaking. Not out of fear, out of nervousness. "Uh, I uhh…"

Josh stopped inches away from her and knelt down, waiting for her to make the first move. He wasn't going to force her into doing something she didn't want to do.

Rainbow Dash's eyes darted from side to side. "Ohh…that's it, come'ere, you!" Dash suddenly wrapped her forelegs around his head and slammed her lips into his, letting out a moan of relief.

Josh used his weight to pull her down on top of him onto the floor. He rimmed his tongue across her teeth and along the roof of her mouth. Rainbow Dash's tongue was so long compared to his that she managed to get in right behind his molars. She could've gone further, but she didn't want to make him choke. Josh brushed the back of her mane with his right hand and scratched her back with the other.

Josh pulled away after a few seconds. "You really don't know what to do with your tongue, do you?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Hey! Just because mine isn't as long as yours! I can't even lick my nose!" He retorted as he demonstrated by sticking his tongue out and up. He barely made it halfway to his nose.

"Haha, wow, that's tiny." Rainbow Dash replied. She then stuck her tongue out and did the same. She managed to cover her nose and go a tiny bit up her muzzle.

Josh smiled. "I knew you had a soft side." He said with a wink.

Rainbow Dash grunted and blushed.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's cute."

"Yeah…exactly…"

"Aww, Dashie…" Josh hugged her tighter and put his head over her left shoulder. "You don't have to keep the tough hard girl act up all the time, you know. Expressing emotion doesn't make you any weaker. If anything, it makes you stronger." He eased off a bit to give her room. "And we don't have to do…this all the time."

"Yeah, but…it feels strange. And what if somepony…disapproves…?"

"That's why I'm here." Josh replied with a smile. "I'll always be by your side to back you up."

Rainbow Dash remained still for a few seconds, before she slowly began to smile. "Thank you…I love you."

"I love you too, Skittles." Josh replied. "So...can we snuggle for a bit longer? We haven't had a good time to cuddle since-" Rainbow Dash suddenly shut him up by planting her lips on his. Josh held her kiss for a few seconds before coming off to the side and then running his tongue along her muzzle and up to her ear. "Don't worry. I won't do this to you in public if you really don't want me to." He said then started nibbling on her ear.

"No, please, I…I want you to do this…"

Josh stopped what he was doing. "Huh?"

"I don't mind if you kiss me in public. You can do what you want." She said it as if she didn't care.

"But I thought you just said-"

"I-I-I changed my mind. That's okay with you, right? You wouldn't mind if I-"

"No, no…" _'Sorry Skittles, but that stuttering and sudden doesn't sound like a simple 'change of mind' to me_.' "Are you feeling allright? You're stuttering, and I can feel your body temperature rising." He really could feel the heat radiating off her.

"Nothing's wrong, I was just, uh, checking, y'know, making sure it's allright with you."

"Why?"

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow. "Why do you have to be so suspicious? I think I know why you struggled with making friends…"

"Funny, but this isn't about me." He sat up, sounding slightly more serious. "I was talking about you."

"Huh? Me? W-why?"

"Is something wrong? Something on your mind?" He noticed her breathing quicken.

"Nah, it's…it's nothing…"

'_Gotcha!'_ "IT'S nothing? But 'it' is something, right? I'm here to help you with all your problems, Dashie. No matter how small, big, silly, stupid, crazy, strange, whatever they may be."

Rainbow Dash had a glaze over her face as if bad memories were suddenly flooding back to her. She sat up next to him. "…Wha…what did you first think of me?"

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Think of you? As in-"

"When you first saw me. Saw what I was like. What did you think? Go back before I knew you. Tell me your very first thoughts."

Josh thought for a minute. "Hmm….well, the first thing I noticed is that you weren't what I thought you would be. You were…more physical. More hooves-on. More…practical isn't the right word, but I can't think of a better one, so I'll stick with that for now. You're not a thinker, you're a do-er. You're-"

"A tomboy." She finished.

"…Well, yeah. What's wrong with that?"

She sighed and looked away. "Back in Cloudsdale, ponies were making fun and…spreading rumours about me…"

"Rumours? What kind of rumours?"

She slowly turned back to him. "Ponies started saying I was a…fillyfooler…"

"What!? That's silly, there's no proof of that!"

"I know." She sniffed. "A-and I wanted so bad to prove 'em wrong, but I didn't wanna ruin my image either. Having a coltfriend is way too sappy for me.-"

"So you made up a story saying you've been in a relationship before?"

"What? N-no, that's t-true!" She crackled. "You don't believe me either, do you!?"

"No, Dashie, no, I believe you! Sorry, I was just jumping to conclusions, I didn't mean that! Please, continue."

She sniffed again and rubbed her watery eyes. "Well, I was actually going out with this really cool guy for a while, but we were never really public about it. Well, when I say going out, I mean…he was one of my best guy friends…we never really hung around with anyone else, it was just me and him. Well, Gilda was around occasionally, but that was it. And…I might've had the teeniest tiniest crush on him a little bit…" Rainbow Dash illustrated the size with her hooves.

"And let me guess, he turned against you?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "I tried at least getting him to help me, but every time I tried to get him to prove to the other Pegasi in Flight School that I wasn't a dyke, he denied it. He even said he'd never met me before. Making me look even worse." She hunched over and stared at the floor.

"Oh Dashie…" Josh hugged her over her shoulders. "Rumours are just rumours. You did all you could, but if they don't believe you, that's their problem, not yours. You ever heard the term 'haters gonna hate'?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I never really gave a buck. But…I got so much of it every day it just got to me…"

"I totally sympathize with you, Skittles. Because I've been there myself." He pulled himself away. "But hey, you lead, I'll follow." He said with a wink.

"…Thank you." She replied. "Can we go for a fly? – Uh, I mean, a walk?"

"Well, if you really wanna fly, you can carry me." Josh said with a chuckle. "But yeah, go on then. Let's take a walk. My ankle still hurts a tiny bit, but I think it'll be fine."

**LATER THAT EVENING**

Rainbow dash and Josh spent the remainder of the day walking and talking. They mainly stayed out of other pony's sight, not by choice but by coincidence that the way they walked didn't take them near any. Well, Dash was directing, so perhaps she did that on purpose.

They had walked back to Josh's house. The sun had just set. "So, you doing anything this evening?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Not much probably." Josh replied. "Just…chill…"

"Do you wanna come to my place?"

"Well…I was kinda expecting something to happen from the probe, so…I'd prefer to wait and see…"

"Oh, okay. That's…understandable." Rainbow Dash turned and spread her wings. "Well, goodnight." She gently took flight.

…

"Wait, Dash."

Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"It gets pretty lonely…do you wanna wait with me? You can crash at mine." As he finished the sentence, he noticed that something had changed about himself.

"Uhh…I guess…" Rainbow Dash flew back down to him.

Josh walked up to the door and opened it to let her through first. _'I actually felt lonely. I mean, most of my life I have been lonely, but I've never felt it before…'_

Rainbow Dash went to walk out the back door, but "no" Josh said. "I was just gonna watch out my bedroom window. It's more comfortable up there."

"Uh, okay, if you say so…"

Josh walked first up the stairs and then into his bedroom. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll find something to do if you want." He rested his arms on the window sill. "If you get bored just say. I don't want you to…" he heard snickering coming from behind his back. He quickly turned around. "What's so funny?"

"Just laughing at your…toys…" She started laughing harder.

'_Ugh, not this again…'_ "Laugh it up all you want, but they're not toys, and I bet you've got similar stuff in your bedroom!"

Rainbow Dash stopped laughing to reply to Josh. "Well, I'm not gonna argue with that. But in comparison, you blow me outta the water!"

"Yeah, yeah…anyway, you wanna watch something whilst we wait for something to happen? Or 'IF' something happens, I should say."

"Watch what?"

"I'll show you." Josh replied as he moved over to the desk on the right hand side of his room and switched on his laptop and then the monitor. He had an external monitor connected to his laptop, because it was just a little netbook and the screen was tiny, so he wanted something bigger.

"It's an Anime called Initial D I thought you might like. It's about street racing in a country from my world called Japan. The racing style is called Touge, which is a style of racing that takes place on narrow, twisty mountain roads."

"…Anime…?"

"It's…nevermind. Just watch it and you'll see."

Josh sat down in an office chair and wheeled himself over to the window slightly. He signalled for Rainbow Dash to pull up a chair. Rainbow Dash grabbed the other chair in his room and placed it next to him.

It took a few minutes for the laptop to fire up. It was a pretty old laptop. It wasn't very powerful, but Josh never upgraded it because he never had the money to do so. He reached over to grab the mouse and navigated his way through the files. He found the folder where he kept his Initial D collection and clicked on the first episode. He slouched back and put his arm around Rainbow Dash's shoulders…

**\/\/\/\/**

"Okay, I'm confused. Does drifting actually make you go faster?"

"Ehhhh…" Josh shrugged his shoulders simultaneously from left to right. "Sorta. It depends on the car and course. On high downforce cars, no. On cars with less downforce, possibly. It also depends on the grip of the course. On high grip tracks, you've actually got to force the car into a slide. You shouldn't have to do that, it slows you down. If it's a low grip track and it doesn't take too much, it could possibly be faster."

"Hmm….then why do they use it all the time?"

"It's a movie, it looks cool, and that's what people wanna see. Regardless of how accurate it is or not."

"Well that sucks."

"Meh, that's how it's always been. But to be honest, I don't think I'd want it any different. Because then some really famous movies would be impossible. Of course, they're impossible anyway, but at least they're slightly believable. But I think there's a few things I could tweak to make it slightly more-"

Rainbow Dash placed her hoof on his lips to stop him talking. "Do you ever stop rambling?" She said.

Josh shrugged. "Not really." He looked past her at the clock. "Geez, it's 1 AM." He leant over and looked out the window. "And not a peep all night."

"It wasn't a waste. We had fun, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Josh replied. He switched his laptop off and then stood up. "I'm going to bed. You're still welcome to stay the night like I said."

"Uh, sure, I'd love to."

"Cool." With that, Josh proceeded to take his clothes off.

Rainbow Dash subtly averted her eyes, not quite sure what to do.

"You can look, you know. I'm not going fully naked."

"Oh great. Sorry, I didn't wanna make you feel awkward."

"Not at all." Josh replied.

He took off all his clothes, bar his boxers, switched off the light, closed the curtains, and then climbed into bed. "Well, you ready to switch off?"

"Wait, where am I sleeping?"

Josh shuffled over in his bed to make a gap and then patted it with his hand.

Rainbow Dash immediately backed off. "Oh no. Don't even think about it! There's no way I'm getting in bed with you yet."

"Please Dashie, do I look like the kinda guy with one thing on his mind? I just want to cuddle. Is that so much to ask?"

"…Sorry…I-I don't wanna…"

"Fine, be like that." Josh rolled over to face the wall. "There's a mattress underneath the bed. Pull that out." He threw a pillow down. "There's a pillow. You should be able to find a blanket."

Rainbow Dash did a quick search to find a blanket in another room and bought it in. She did a quick setup and then lied down. "Night." She said softly. To which she got no response.

She rested her head on the pillow. _'I hope I didn't upset him…'_

**\/\/\/\/**

It had been half an hour, yet Rainbow Dash found herself unable to sleep. She felt somewhat distracted.

She rolled over and looked up. "Josh, are you awake?" She whispered. To which she got no response.

She sat up. _'I guess it couldn't hurt…'_ She glanced around every angle she could view by turning her head and then slowly raised herself to her hooves, making sure she was being as quiet as possible.

She looked at Josh. He was still facing the other way, fast asleep. She had another glance to the left and right. She then slowly lifted up the covers with her hoof and gently slipped into the gap Josh had left, making sure not to bang her hooves on the bed frame. That would wake him up for sure.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Goodnight." She whispered softly. She then rested her head on the pillow and curled up underneath the blanket.

* * *

_**Just to let you know, I am now only able to work on my stories on weekends (and that's before I plan to do anything), so don't expect anything too soon. But I have a new plan. I'll post smaller chapters, but more frequently.**_

_**See ya soon!**_

_**Josh**_


	16. The Competitions of Love

**Damn that's a crap chapter title.**

**Hey Everypony. Here's the next chapter. I'm not particularly satisfied with it, but I guess it's not bad for a few hours work.**

**I've been so busy recently I haven't been able to work on this at all. But on the plus side, all the time I used when I should've been writing paid off. I'm now a officially certified Microsoft Technical Engineer! :D**

**Anyway, I bashed this out over the weekend in a few hours. I typed non-stop to get this out. It's more one of those "filler" chapters, and it has a lot of technical lingo words in it (which I've tried to put into simple tongue to help). I'm not really sure how to proceed with this, but I'll explain more at the end, since I know you want to read it now.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! :)**

* * *

Rainbow Dash slowly awoke the next morning. She felt quite tired, but then again, she always was.

She went to get out of bed, but as she tried to move, she felt something holding her. She looked back and saw that Josh has his arms around her. As soon as she noticed that, she suddenly felt warmer and more comfortable. She decided to wait for him to wake up instead of trying to move.

She looked up at the window. She couldn't really see, due to the blinds being down, but she was hoping to see if any light was piercing through the gaps in the sides. She couldn't see anything. She looked back down at the digital clock Josh had on his desk. It was 6:30. _'No wonder I still feel tired. I'm gonna try and get more sleep.'_ She decided.

She snuggled herself back into the covers and closed her eyes.

**\/\/\/\/**

Josh began to stir. He never immediately opened his eyes when he woke up, because he liked to let himself adjust. He tried to roll over, but he felt something blocking him. Then he remembered. _'Rainbow Dash.'_ That was the only thing he thought it could be.

He opened his eyes and rolled over, except without moving from his position. He saw Rainbow Dash fast asleep tucked up under the covers, her body slowly rising up and down.

He felt himself stop breathing for a few seconds…

…

…

…

'…_Damn that's cute.'_

He looked over at the time. It was 10AM. _'Damn. That's quite late for me.'_ He thought.

He contemplated trying to slip out or not, but he didn't want to wake Dashie… _'I guess I better wait…'_

He laid his head back. Contemplating. He thought about lots of things. About what they were gonna do today. About the future. About what happens if something goes wrong. Celestia hasn't even declared that he can officially stay yet, so there's still a possibility (although he didn't like to think about it). He breezed through the minutes by pondering all the possible outcomes.

Suddenly, he heard a quiet groan next to him. He tilted his head to see Rainbow Dash stirring. She blinked her eyes a few times before fully opening them. When he knew she could see him, he smiled. "Morning, Dashie." He said softly.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Morning." She replied.

"Sleep alright?" He asked.

"Yeah…"

"Was my bed comfortable?" He said with a smile.

"Yeah, but I only climbed in because you were asleep. That way I can be certain…"

"Certain of what?" Josh replied, knowing what she meant. "You know I'd never do something like that."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves across her forelegs nervously. "I'm sorry, but…I just don't feel it yet…"

"If you say so. I'll go at your pace. It takes 2 to tandem."

Rainbow Dash chuckled at his reference. She then lowered her hind legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Josh copied her. "So, whaddya wanna do today?" She asked.

"With you? Anything." He replied. "But seriously, I've had something on my mind ever since we 'borrowed' the shuttle. And I think you're going to like it. But first, I want to get showered and dressed."

"Same. I'm already dressed, but I could use a shower."

"Well, the showers that way." He pointed. "Ladies first."

"Nah, you go ahead. I can wait."

"No, I insist. Please."

"It's your house, you go first."

"You're the guest, you go first." Josh sighed. "We'll be going in circles for a while. Therefore, let's do a compromise."

"And NO, we're not sharing."

Josh smiled smugly. "Well, if you insist…" he said sarcastically.

"Sorry, but…no."

Josh chuckled. "Joking aside, you can go first, it won't bother me."

Rainbow Dash just stared at him. As if she was telepathically relaying the answer to him.

Josh sighed "Fine. If it'll really make you happy, I'll go first."

"Don't you have 2 showers? This is a pretty big house."

"Yeah, but the other one is really grubby. You won't like it."

"…Fine…"

"Lie down and rest if you want to. I'll tell you when I'm done."

"Sure, sure…" Josh climbed out and headed for the shower. He walked out of his room, picked up his towel which was hanging over the banister, and then walked into the bathroom.

Rainbow Dash started blankly into space for a few seconds, giving herself some time to think. Something she didn't do very often. Eventually, she started getting bored of thinking, so she began taking interest in other things around her.

She stood up onto her feet and began to wander around Josh's room. The first thing she did was push that temporary bed back underneath his bed. She then moved behind his bed to his shelves, where he had a small collection of model cars on one of them.

She picked one up at random and placed it out on a clear space on the shelves. She then began slowly pushing it along by its door sideways. "Drifting…" she'd been thinking about the whole concept of it since Josh showed that TV show to her. Mainly because it produced lots of smoke and looked so cool. _'Does it really make you faster? And how do you do it?'_

She picked up the model car and turned it upside down to look at its tires. _'I don't understand how all 4 tires have no grip but they've gotta turn the corner at the same time. Do you have to keep it in the gas?'_

She tried to simulate what she just said with the model car to help her visualise what might happen. _'That won't work. I'll just overshoot. But then…how? Having no grip doesn't work, and having grip doesn't work, so that means-' _an idea suddenly hit her. _'Of course. I think I've heard Josh mention it before. He called it the 'slip angle' or something like that. I've gotta get a balance between grip and no grip.'_

She pushed the car along again. _'So, I could keep the grip on the front tires, but lose it on the back. So that's technically half the grip.' _She simulated it by pushing the model car along the surface and trying to do what she thought was right. As she watched, she managed to visualise what would happen inside the car.

'_Well, it works. Kinda. But nothings ever that simple.'_ She put the model car back in its original place. _'I need to sit next to Josh whilst he drives some more.'_

She looked at the remainder of his shelves. There was nothing out of the ordinary (well, nothing out of the ordinary for Josh anyway), but looking further towards the top. _'Hey, there are actually books on this bookshelf!'_

She flew up gently so she could read the books. _'I wonder if he has anything about driving techniques up here…'_ She started skimming through. Sure enough, he had lots about cars and driving, but not really anything she was looking for. One book caught her eye though. it was called 'The Physics of NASCAR'.

She pulled it out and took a look. She put it back after 5 minutes. _'Geez, when it said physics I didn't think it would mean make-your-brain-bleed physics.'_

She heard the door to the shower opening along with the sound of footsteps coming towards her. Josh came through the door with a towel around his waist. "It's all yours." He said and pointed. "There's a towel hanging over the radiator."

"Right, thanks." Rainbow Dash replied as she headed for the shower.

Josh quickly got dressed. He threw some jeans and a black shirt on. Whilst Rainbow Dash was in the shower, he went to do his hair.

After a while, they were both eventually done and ready. "So, what did you have planned?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, I've got something on my mind, but I'm not sure if it'll work or not."

"Really? What is it?"

"It's…kinda like a simulation. But more complex than the ones from my time."

"The ones from your time? Why do I get the feeling I know where this is going…?"

"Because you probably do." Josh replied. "Come on. Follow me." He stood up and headed downstairs.

"As you probably suspected, the simulation hardware I'm going to use is way ahead of my time." He explained as they walked. "But that ship is too small to house the hardware required. So there is an alternative. I'm going to try and use that now." He opened the back door and stepped out into the garden

"What can you simulate?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Josh shrugged. "Anything you want. Within reason." They stepped into the ship. "That way." He said and pointed.

There was another door in the back of the ship that opened to reveal a small staircase consisting of 4 steps. Stepping down through them, there was another room in the ship. This one was more open planned than the main Bridge of the ship. And every side had something different on it. Nothing looked the same.

Josh walked over to a large hole in the wall. "This is a Replicator, like the one in the Bridge. However, this one is different. The one you saw up there produced food. It had protein synthesizers in it to make food. This one, however, is called an Industrial Replicator. It's purely for working purposes. It can make complex designs in seconds which would take us hours, maybe even days."

"I sorta get it." Rainbow Dash replied. "But what does this have to do with what you were talking about?"

Josh looked into the box. "Computer, replicate 2 Synaptic Stimulators with neural interface." He spoke clearly and loudly.

The Computer beeped in response and 2 small objects began to glow inside the box and produce a whirring sound. When the process was complete, there were 2 small grey objects with tiny lights and controls on them. They were about 2 inches in diameter.

"This" he picked one up "is called a Synaptic Stimulator. They were originally developed for medical purposes, being able to monitor brain trauma and being able to do stuff to help. But now they're far more complex. They're able to tap into your brain and simulate certain things."

"Really?"

"In a nutshell, yes. It will be like having a very realistic dream that you can interact with."

"Wait, a dream? How do you stop it once its started?"

"I was just about to figure that out once I've looked into how to program it."

"Program it?"

Josh nodded. "You have to program what you want into it, like anything. Otherwise it's just a pile of pointless circuits. The program will be running off the ships main computer. All these devices are doing is acting like a bridge between our brains and the computer."

Rainbow Dash had a completely blank look on her face.

Josh sighed. "Anyway, what do you wanna do? Something new?"

"Uhh…I'd like to do some more driving." Rainbow Dash replied. She just wanted to be besides him so she could watch him and learn.

"Okay, sure, I'm happy with that. Where'd you wanna go?"

"Uh, you're the expert, you choose."

"Well, help me narrow it down then. Whaddya fancy?"

"Uhhh…what do they call the driving from that show you showed me last night?"

"Drifting?"

"No, I mean the roads. Like those mountain pass roads."

"Oh, Touge?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Hmm…let's have a look…" He started pressing a few buttons. "Let's find a nice little Touge route in Japan." A map of Japan appeared on the screen with pointers pointing to all the possible mountain passes in Japan.

"Let's do this one." Rainbow Dash said and pointed. She had no idea what she just pointed to, but her instinct just told her to pick it.

"That one?" Josh selected it to take a better look. The screen zoomed in to that particular area. "The Nissho Pass. Or…Niss-so…Niss…Nissh...Nishs...never mind, I dunno how you pronounce it. Anyway, the Nissho Pass. It's just over 20 miles long. That's pretty damn long. You sure you don't want to try something shorter?"

"Nah, it'll be fun. Besides, what fun is there to be had if we limit ourselves to size?"

Josh shrugged. "If you say so." He pressed a few buttons. "Nissho Pass downloaded. I also changed a few things so that you type ponies are now considered as normal as human beings on Planet Earth. Along with a few other things to spice it up a bit."

"What kind of things?"

Josh smiled. "You'll see." He picked up the 2 small circular devices. "It sits just below your ear." He moved his hand up to her head and gently placed it underneath her left ear. He then did the same with his.

He stood up and walked over to the other end of the room. Rainbow Dash followed him. He hit 2 buttons on the wall and 2 long things started extending out from the wall. They looked kinda like beds.

He motioned for Rainbow Dash to get on. "Make yourself comfortable." He instructed.

"Uhh…why the bed? We just got out of bed." Rainbow Dash asked as she climbed onto the closest one.

"They're usually used for medical purposes. I'm just using them because they're comfy. And I don't want to lie on the floor."

He laid on the next one. "Now, there should be a button dead in the middle of the device. Just press that when you are ready to go." He instructed. He closed his eyes and laid his finger on the button.

Rainbow Dash rested her head back. She felt around on the device until she found what she thought Josh meant. She relaxed and pushed the button.

**\/\/\/\/\/**

She and Josh suddenly appeared in this strange surrounding. Apart from the moon, it was pitch black. It looked to be around about midnight. Rainbow Dash slowly looked up to see the big mountain in front of her. She wasn't gonna kid herself, there's no way she could fly all the way up that without stopping. The atmosphere felt alive. It felt…electric. "So, is that it?" She asked.

"More or less." Josh replied. "Obviously this is still the main road leading up to the pass. Looks like we're gonna have to walk."

"Walk? In this pitch black?"

"There'll be lights along the way. Not many, but we'll know when we get there."

They started to pace up the mountain. It took them a little while of walking before they started hearing the sound of engines. "See? What did I tell ya?" Josh said.

The sound was coming behind them. The blur of a cars headlights slowly getting closer and closer. "What is that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No idea. I can't see with the dark and the glare." Josh replied. "But I bet he's heading the same place we are."

The headlights got closer and closer until they were right next to them. At that point, it became a little clearer, but not much. It must've been a dark coloured car, because Josh struggled to see any details. It shifted gears to make fire spit out the exhaust.

Rainbow Dash looked at Josh as if she was expecting an answer.

Josh shrugged. "I dunno, I couldn't tell because it's so dark. It looked bulky, so an Evo maybe?"

It took them quite a while of walking. Rainbow Dash's legs tired and she resorted to hovering. "Hey Dash, I think we're there." Josh said and pointed.

Just over the crest of the hill, there was a big glow and the sound of voices. "That must be where the racers gather."

"And I bet we're the only ones that walked all the way up here." Rainbow Dash replied. "The next time you program something like this, make it so we don't have to walk halfway across the world to get there."

"Agreed." Josh replied.

As they peeked over the hill, the entire area around them lit up with the glow of headlights. There was lots of people. Some with cars, most without. They were obviously just spectators.

The area in which they gathered was a lay-by on both sides of the road separated from the main road by a guardrail. Cars were parked either side. Men were either working on them or chatting with the others.

Josh walked along to the lay-by on the left. Rainbow Dash stayed close to him. They walked over to an orange car. It had obviously caught Josh's eye. He ran his hand across the fender. As he did, he noticed that the hood was up. He leaned over to have a look inside at the engine. He took a good long look at it. He hovered his hand just over it to test the temperature to see if it was cool enough to touch. After confirming it, he placed his hand over the top of it.

"3 and a half litre V6." A voice suddenly came from behind, making Rainbow Dash jump slightly because she was mesmerised with watching Josh examine the car. But there was something she noticed. He talked funny, perhaps in a different language, but somehow she understood what he was saying.

Josh and Rainbow Dash turned in unison to look at the man behind them. He looked to be about 6 foot tall. He was wearing black trousers and a red shirt. He had short black hair.

"Nice car." Josh commented. "My names Josh Valentine." Rainbow Dash noticed it again with Josh's voice. He was speaking funny too, but somehow she understood it.

"European? But you speak fluent Japanese? Impressive." The man replied. "Josh…short for Joshua?"

'_Wait, is that the language we're speaking?'_ Rainbow Dash thought. _'And…Joshua…?'_

Josh nodded. "I'm from England."

The man looked slightly amused. "I'm Asahi Daijiro. What brings you here?"

"I'm here to race. They say I'm the fastest in Europe. I wanted to try down here, since you Japanese are a lot tougher competition." He replied. Rainbow Dash could tell that he was totally bluffing when he said that. Even though from what she's seen, she wants to believe it. She noticed his arms tense up when he said it. That's how she could tell if he was bluffing or not.

Asahi chuckled. He then looked at Rainbow Dash. "A pony? I've never seen one in this country before."

"Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash." She said casually, as she normally would. But to her surprise, she talked in the same funny language.

"And I guess you want to try and drive too?"

"Uh, if I could, that would be great, but I'm just here to watch Josh."

"Hm." He looked back at Josh. "So you want to race, eh? Where's your car?"

"I don't have one in this country. But I was hoping that one of you would be kind enough to let a fellow racer borrow one. Just for tonight."

Asahi laughed. "And risk our insurance!?" He turned his head. "Hey guys, this European guy says he's the fastest in Europe and wants to borrow a car!" He called to everyone.

Everyone started laughing and moving in on them. Gathering in a huge circular crowd.

Josh tapped Asahi on the shoulder to make him turn and look at him. "This 350Z's yours, right?"

"Of course." He replied. "Wasn't that obvious?"

"Now I have a car." Josh held out his hand. "The keys."

Asahi laughed again. "And you think I'm just gonna let you borrow it? Getting a bit cocky aren't we?"

"If you wanna race me, then I'll need a car." Josh replied. "But how about we do this instead; all of you guys race all at the same time, and whoever loses, I'll borrow their car. Fair?"

Objections arose immediately, but it didn't take long for them or realise that Josh didn't need to state the obvious. They started discussing amongst themselves about how they should give it a try.

"And why should we do what you just suggested?" Asahi asked.

'_This guy's brain is obviously not operating on the same wave length as everyone else's…'_ "Oh, so you're declining my challenge?"

Everyone around him gasped since declining a challenge without a legitimate reason was considered cowardly and insulting to street racers.

"No…I'm not declining…I accept your proposal…but I was just thinking…there are a lot of cars here, so It'll be easy to stay out of last place for most of us. There isn't much of a challenge in that is there?"

"Then how about this; every car that finishes in an even numbered position, like 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th etcetera, I get a choice as to who's car I use. That spices things up doesn't it?"

Discussion kicked off around them again regarding the increase in difficulty.

"Very well." Asahi replied. He turned to face the crowd. "On behalf of our team, I accept Valentine Joshua's challenge. The race will be to the summit and back. Starting positions will be arranged on a first-come-first-serve basis. We go immediately."

And with those final 2 sentences, every driver made a dash for their cars whilst the spectators got out of the way. Josh and Rainbow Dash included. The Pass suddenly came to life with the sounds of engines firing up and tires screeching with cars trying to get to the start line before anyone else.

Josh perched on a guardrail on the lay-by overlooking the start. Cars were line up 2-by-2 revving their engines for the start. A man walked between the cars and out to the front before turning around to face them.

He held his right hand up in the air with his fingers and thumb. He started counting down, lowering each finger to represent the numbers. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!"

All of a sudden, exhausts spat fire and tires screeched as all 28 cars flew off up the mountain.

As the roar died down and they were able to hear each other again, Rainbow Dash tapped Josh on the arm to get his attention. "Josh, 14 cars is a lot, and these narrow roads will make it hard to race like that. How will they do it?"

Josh smiled. "The smart ones will put space between them, only concentrating on the position they need to be in to avoid getting an even number. The not so smart ones…they'll give it all they've got. And the consequences will be…interesting…"

"Right. If you get a choice, what car will you choose?"

"Personally, I'd go for the S2000."

"Uh, right…uhh...which one was that?"

"The purple one that was sitting at the opposite end of the lay-by."

"Oh right! That thing!" Rainbow Dash replied.

They sat quietly for the past few minutes, listening to the sound of engines and screeching of tires. It was pitch black, and they could only see tiny specs of light from cars head and tail lights. If it wasn't for some of the spectators' cars producing light, they'd be completely left in the dark.

"How long do these things usually take?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's a 20 mile run, Rainbow. Even averaging 80 miles per hour would take 15 minutes."

"15 minutes!? Ha! You could clear this in 10 minutes flat!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Pretty cold tonight, don't'cha think?"

"It is actually, for Japan. Maybe I forgot to program a time of year and it just randomly put us in winter."

"It's freezing." Rainbow Dash rubbed her forelegs together to generate heat. "Will that affect the track? Or road?"

"Maybe, but less grip means more skill is required. So that's favours me."

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You really think you've got the skill to take these guys on?"

"Absolutely." Josh replied. "You look cold. Do you want my jacket?" He unzipped it and went to take it off.

"N-no I'm f-fine seriously-" Before she could say anymore, it was already around her shoulders. She reluctantly but surely put her forehooves through the arms. "Thanks…just don't freeze yourself…"

"No problem." Josh replied as he did the zip up for her.

After waiting a few more minutes, the cars were eventually in sight on the home run. They filtered through across the line at full speed. Josh was keeping in mind what cars were coming through in what positions.

"So which one should we choose?" Rainbow Dash asked as they parked up.

"Dunno." Josh replied. "Lemme think about it."

"That black one looked quite fast."

"It probably has too much turbo lag for my driving style."

"Then what about that red one? That went into the first turn like a wrecking ball and managed to stick all the way through."

"Unless its 4 wheel drive is configured correctly, it won't match my driving style."

"Then how about that white one? It shot off the line like a rocket, and it looked stable, meaning you could get on the gas more."

"It's front wheel drive. I don't do front wheel drive."

"…Well…I dunno. Looks like the purple one won, so that's out of the question."

As the racers got out of their cars, they started walking towards Josh. Josh stood up and walked towards them at the same time. "So, I believe we had a deal."

"Yeah, fine." Asahi replied. "Pick your wheels and your opponent."

"Hmm…your 350Z, I heard it making a whining noise as it came across the line. Does it have straight-cut gears? Or is it supercharged?"

Josh could tell by the look on his face that he didn't like where this was going.

"…It's…supercharged…"

Josh smiled. "In that case, I'll borrow your car." He held out his hand to take the keys.

Asahi mumbled and glanced away, clenching the keys in his fist.

"C'mon, we had a deal." Josh said, motioning with his hand for him to hand them over. "We don't have all night." _'Or technically, all morning for us.'_

Asahi reluctantly dropped the keys in the palm of his hand. "You damage it, you pay for it."

Josh nodded in confirmation. "I want to race the guy in the purple S2000." He stated.

Everyone looked over at the car. Its driver was perched on the hood smoking a cigarette. Clearly not interested in what was going on.

"That's Shikamaru Kyosuke. If you intend on taking him on, you better have your flight back to England ready. Because you're not gonna want to show your face again after that level of embarrassment."

"Perfect." Josh walked over to the S2000. Rainbow Dash stood up and followed him. The man on the hood noticed him walking over and stood up to greet him.

"I would like to race you. I would like to do a goal race. Whoever reaches the goal first wins. Like what you just did."

Kyosuke had a puff on his cigarette before talking. "You sure about that? Not a very smart move, kid. I think you're better off going against something like that Eight-Six." He pointed to the car he meant. Josh didn't even bother to look. "Might be easier for you. My advice; go back to go-kart racing with your pony friend here." He was referring to Rainbow Dash.

"No, I want to race you. You've got one of my favourite cars, and I've never seen it in action before. I want to see what it's like to race against."

Kyosuke chuckled. "Alright then. I guess I could arrange that."

"Good. Don't hold anything back." Josh replied.

"You too. Not that I need to say that, since it won't be enough." He finished his cigarette and then walked over to the driver's seat.

Josh started walking back towards where his car was parked, pressing the button on the key to unlock it. "Rainbow, get in the passenger seat of the car." He instructed as he hastily walked over to it.

"Right." Rainbow Dash replied and followed him.

He stepped inside it and took a seat. He pulled his seatbelt over. He adjusted the seat and steering wheel to match him. He then closed the door, put the keys in the ignition, and fired up the engine. Panels on the dashboard lit up and the headlights turned on.

He leant over Rainbow Dash in the passenger seat and pulled a handle in front of her legs. It opened the glovebox. Inside, there was a big piece of paper. He took it out and unfolded it and laid it on the steering wheel. It was a map of the area.

He then reached inside and got the owners manual for the car out. He opened it up to find a pen in the sleeve. He took it out and threw the book back in the glovebox. He then quickly started drawing over the map with the pen. When he was done, he threw the pen back into the glovebox.

"Rainbow" he handed her the map "I've highlighted the course with the pen along with a few quick, brief notes. I want you to guide me through what's coming up. It's probably not very accurate, but describe it to me the best you can."

"Uhh…okay…" Rainbow Dash took the map and looked at it.

Josh put it in gear and pulled away. He went backwards out and stopped on the start line. The S2000 pulled around and lined up next to him. He looked over at Josh and wound his window down. Josh did the same.

"We do the same race as last time. To the summit and back down. Winner is the first one to the goal."

"Agreed." Josh replied and nodded.

Kyosuke looked at the spectator on the line. "Is the course clear?"

The guy held up what looked like a walkie-talkie. "Just checked in. Appears clear. Nothing in sight."

Kyosuke nodded in confirmation. As did Josh.

He walked in between the 2 cars. "Okay, starting the countdown!" He held his hand up high in the air.

The 2 cars revved their engines. Rainbow Dash watched Josh in excitement. _'Finally, what I've been waiting for! A moment to watch Josh drive and sit next to him while he does it. Now I can watch his technique and see what he does differently to me. I can see his strengths and weaknesses and use them to beat him!...wow. Never in a million years would I have guessed that the one I'd aspire to beat the most would be the one I fell in love with. Better yet want to beat him at his own game.'_

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!"

Josh dropped the clutch and gradually applied power. Both cars shot off the line. The S2000 got off the line better. _'As I predicted…'_ Josh thought. _'I've never raced a Touge before, but I've always wanted to.'_

Rainbow Dash watched his right foot as they accelerated. _'His throttle control was good. Barely any wheelspin.'_ She glanced ahead and then down at the map. "Left turn coming up." She said. Josh didn't respond, but she gathered he was just concentrating.

Josh saw the corner come up. He immediately reacted. He pressed the brake with the ball of his right foot and moved his heel across to blip the throttle. He used his left foot on the clutch and travelled down through the gears.

He turned the wheel in towards the apex. The back end went light a bit, but Josh used the wheel to compensate. He delayed getting back on the gas a bit longer to make sure he didn't tap the S2000 on the bumper. Once he knew he was clear, he rolled back on the gas, the acceleration force throwing his head back against the headrest. _'That supercharger really gives a big kick when accelerating out of a corner.'_

The S2000 pulled ahead on the short straightaway. _'He's pulling away. As I suspected. On this uphill, that S2000 is a much lighter car, giving it an advantage. This boost that the supercharger gives me is helping me keep up with him, but I don't think I'll be able to pass him on the uphill. It's definitely producing more than the 300 horsepower factory standard. I don't think that S2000 has a supercharger. And if it has a turbocharger, it'll suddenly pull away the further down the straight we go.'_

Going down the straight, Josh was able to keep up with him fine until he saw road marking indicating that there was a turn coming up. _'That's proof that it doesn't have a turbocharger. It must have ECU tuning and a new high capacity engine to give it that extra power.'_

Rainbow Dash looked down at the map. "Hairpin right." She instructed.

Josh moved his left hand down onto the shifter, getting ready to brake. The S2000's tail lights lit up in front of him._ '…NOW!'_ Josh pressed down hard on the brake with the ball of his foot whilst downshifting through the gears. To 4th. To 3rd. To 2nd.

Rainbow Dash gasped in her head when she saw his hand move back to the steering wheel, indicating he was done shifting. _'That's the wrong gear! We're going in too fast!' _She grabbed the armrest getting ready for the car to spin around.

What Josh did next completely shocked her by the fact he was able to do it. He moved his left foot over to the brake pedal and used his left foot to brake whilst keeping his right foot hovering over the throttle.

He braked very gently and turned the wheel about 80 degrees to the right. The back end went very light and started sliding out from under him. He turned the wheel a whole turn to the right to counter it, feathering the gas and brake to keep the car going in the right direction.

He managed to keep it going, but the S2000 cleared it faster than he did. _'Dammit. This car has good power, strong brakes, and stable suspension although a bit on the loose side for my liking, but somehow it keeps sliding out from under me. Why?'_

Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief as they cleared the corner. _'I was certain we were going too fast. But somehow he made it through there. How?'_ She looked down at the map. "We've got some pretty fast esses coming up finished by a tight right turn."

Josh nodded in confirmation. _'Hm. Fast turns? Could I use the extra weight of this car to my advantage?'_

The first entry was a left hander. Josh dropped it into 3rd, wanting to go to 2nd, but knowing that he'd just shift back up again come a straightaway. As soon as he brushed the wheel, the back end wanted to go away. _'No matter how light I am on the steering, it always steps out. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Something I'm missing? Something on the road that I'm not seeing?'_

He looked forward at the S2000 in front of him. _'The S2000 seems to be sliding about too. Does that mean that it's purely down to this road lacking grip?' _As soon as he said that last sentence in his head, a brainwave hit him. _'Of course! Why didn't I see this before!? I'm such an idiot! The track lacks grip, and because of the setup, it behaves more like a WRC car. If I treat it and drive it like a WRC car, will it be faster?"_

Instead of fighting the sliding, Josh let the car slide more, letting it do what it naturally wanted to do. He found himself fighting it more, since he wasn't used to the driving style, but quickly adapted. _'I think I'm starting to understand. The throttle controls the steering. If I don't turn the wheel as much, is it faster?'_

Rainbow Dash kept looking out the side window to see how much he was sliding. _'He's started drifting. He seems faster when he's doing this. But it seems a little rougher than his normal driving.'_ She looked back at his hands as they went through a fast left turn. He turned it a little then counter-steered lots by steering a full turn in the opposite direction.

That's when Rainbow Dash noticed a potential weakness. _'His steering is very choppy. He told me the smoother you are the faster you go. Being so rough on the steering, it's probably slowing him down. That means that it should be easy to beat him in the middle of a corner, where steering counts the most. So I could pass him in a long fast corner.'_

She looked down at his feet. _'His pedal work is perfect. From what I've seen on the TV and experienced, most drivers either get their braking too early or too late. But he gets it slap-bang dead-on perfect each time. With no lock-ups either. And he's great coming out of turns. It's like he can feel the traction of the back wheels, because he never spins them. And when he does, he's going straight anyway, so it doesn't matter. So I probably couldn't beat him on corner entry and exit, since he's got those both covered. So it'll have to be mid-turn.'_

As they exited the fast sweeping corners, Josh managed to get a run on the S2000. He began to pullout for the overtake, but a split-second later, he changed his mind and tucked back in behind the car as they went through the tight right turn. Which surprised Rainbow Dash. _'Why did he do that?'_ She looked down at the map. "Pretty basic turns for the next few miles. Look at the road ahead, I shouldn't need to tell you."

As they powered on through the course, the S2000 was pulling away. "Josh, he's pulling away. Are you gonna let him do that?"

Josh didn't reply, but kept his eyes glued to the road.

"…Josh…?" She glanced down at the map. "Sharp right." She instructed. "Looks like you could do it in 2nd."

Josh got on the brake about 20 meters earlier than the car ahead of him. _'Why's he braking so early?'_ But her question was soon answered after she heard the difference in tire screech. _'That S2000 screams through the turns. Is Josh driving slower to save his tires? He said he will be faster on the downhill…'_ She smiled. _'Genius thinking, Josh…then again, he probably knew that from the start. Since it's only…logical…'_

As she said that last word in her head, she suddenly found another weakness in Josh. _'That's it! Josh isn't driving the limit. Well, technically he is in his mind. But he's driving the LOGICAL limit. Meaning he could go faster, but it would overheat the tires on the long run. But there has to be a way to go faster than that. He's just not doing it because he'll lose the tires. Josh, beware, I now know how to beat you!'_

They raced up the mountain. Kyosuke looked back at Josh in his mirror. He was about 3 or 4 seconds behind. _'Heh. Aren't you a bit young to be playing tactics like that? Although you made the best choice. The downhill will be where the real battle begins!'_

As they approached the summit, there was a small traffic cone sitting in the middle of the road. The S2000 approached the cone and then braked hard. Once it reached the cone, it swung hard right doing a 180 degree turn around the cone.

Josh didn't pay attention as the S2000 blasted by him in the opposite direction. Instead, he concentrated on the cone and when to brake. _'Not yet…not yet…NOW!'_ He slammed his foot down on the brake for a split-second before taking a tiny bit of pressure off to prevent locking up. He started heel and toe downshifting through the gears. From 6th to 5th. To 4th. To 3rd. To 2nd.

He downshifted into 1, but he didn't blip the throttle. As he re-engaged the clutch, the diff locked and unsettled the car. Josh threw the steering wheel all the way to the right, using the cars weight to throw it around the corner. Once he got the nose pointing 180 degrees around, he counter-steered and got back on the power. The wheelspin helped him round in the final stage before transitioning back onto the straight.

'_Alright. Here we go.'_

He put his foot all the way to the floor and began chasing the taillights of the S2000.

He raced harder than he previously was, but not much harder. _'What's he playing at? Does he not know this is his last chance?'_ Rainbow Dash wondered. She didn't need to direct him, since they were just going back the way they came.

Kyosuke watched in his rear view mirror every time he came out of a corner as the 350Z became clearer in it. _'He's not gaining on me as quickly as he should. He should be on my bumper by now. What's he doing?'_

As he accelerated through the fast left hander, he felt his car pushing like crazy. _'My tires are heat worn badly. Do I go faster to get away and risk them getting worse? Or do I slow down to try and save them and risk giving him an opportunity to pass?'_

Josh knew where they were coming up to. It was a set of 10 hairpins that were separated by long straights. _'His car may pull away on the straights, but I've definitely got the upper hand with my tires.'_ He felt them as he went through. _'They still feel the same. I've managed them well. But now's not the time for tire management.'_

He raced down into the hairpins. He was definitely braking much later than the S2000, but he kept pulling away on the straights. _'I seem to be able to catch him under braking and through the turn, but, even through his advantage is lessened, he still pulls away from me on the straights.'_

He watched him more carefully going into the next 2 hairpins. _'As far as top speed goes, these cars are pretty much equal. But that S2000 has a big weight advantage which makes it accelerate quicker than me out of the turn. I need to somehow make this car accelerate better.'_

As he came out of the next turn, he noticed something about the road. _'The Japanese road drainage systems are a lot different than the ones in England. This car has a higher ride height than the S2000, so perhaps I could use them to my advantage.'_

They accelerated up to the turn. Rainbow Dash noticed that Josh went past his normal braking point…he went further from it…and further…and further…

"Josh, brake?" She questioned. But he kept going. They got closer and closer to the turn-in. By now, they were gonna overshoot the corner anyway, but they could still stop going over the edge. "Brake!" But he didn't respond. "BRAKE!" She panicked and shook him with her hooves to try and get him too, but he shoved her back in her seat. "BRAAAAAKE!" She screamed as she closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Finally, only meters away from turn-in point, Josh started braking. He flung the steering wheel hard left, trying to compensate for the extra speed he was carrying. As he turned in, Rainbow Dash felt something funny bump on the suspension. It was on her side, she could tell. She looked out her window, and couldn't see any road. Just grass. She looked ahead and saw that they were going much faster around the turn. She felt that her side of the car was dipped down, but why?

As they transitioned off the turn, the car leveled out and Josh got back on the gas, much earlier than he normally would. He closed in on the S2000 in front of him coming out of the turn _'It worked! I'm matching his acceleration! If I can pass him during these next few hairpins, I can pull away easily!'_

In no time at all, Kyosuke noticed the 350Z accelerating up to him coming out of a turn. _'How did he do that!?...N-no way, he didn't do 'THAT' move did he!? He's crazy!'_

Kyosuke knew he was gonna try and pass him coming out of this turn. _'There's only 1 hairpin left. There's no way I'm letting you have the inside!"_ He blocked the inside coming off the turn.

Josh noticed this and moved to the opposite side of the track. _'This puts me at a disadvantage, but I guess I could try being a little more… 'Flamboyant'…'_

The cars were neck and neck going down the straightaway. _'Josh has lost the inside. How's he gonna pass now?'_ Rainbow Dash wondered.

They were closing in on the corner. Neither of them were slowing down. _'Come on, we all know you're gonna brake first.'_ Josh thought. He knew that the S2000's tires were in bad shape, so he couldn't go in much deeper.

In the end, the S2000 only braked a split-second earlier than Josh. At that point, Josh dabbed the brakes, but instead of going for the shifter, he went for the handbrake. He yanked it up and flicked the wheel left slightly. When he got it going, he turned the wheel as far right as it would go and released the handbrake. The front of the car sunk down as the front wheels got locked in. He shifted directly to 2nd and feathered the throttle.

He let of the gas a touch earlier to compensate for the wider angle when leaving the corner, but it didn't matter since he was already ahead.

Rainbow Dash was just sitting petrified in the passenger's seat, her jaw dropped as far as it would go and she couldn't move a muscle. _'H-how…that's…impossible…no way could he pull something like that off! It just defies everything he's taught me.' _She looked at him. _'I knew he wasn't normal, but this is far from normal even for him. No one can do a move like that and pull it off! This is crazy!'_

For the first time in the whole race, Josh relaxed a little bit. He chuckled. "Well, that was interesting. Now all that's left to do is-"

**\/\/\/\/**

They were suddenly back in the shuttle, staring at the ceiling. They immediately jumped because they were so on edge back in the simulation. They quickly glanced around to find Twilight at the control panel for the console they were sitting next to. She looked like she knew what she just did. "Umm…I'm sorry?"

"Twilight! You just had to interrupt us in the middle of an epic race, didn't you!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what you were doing. I just pressed this button here" she pointed "it looked like a pause sign. I just wanted to see what you were doing."

"Shouldn't you know not to interrupt!?"

"I said I was sorry!" Twilight replied. "So…what were you doing anyway?"

"We were just racing using-"

"A Synaptic Stimulator?" Twilight swiped it off Josh's head. "You used it to create a simulation inside your head? Like a dream?"

"Uh, yea-"

"Or like in the Season 5 finale of Voyager, which is similar to what you're doing here. I believe they were described as a 'cheap mans Holodeck'?"

"Yeah, that's right. You that far into it already?"

"That far? I watched the whole series on that portable player thing you lent me."

Josh's jaw dropped. "But…it takes years. How did you watch all that footage in so little time?"

"Oh, I only watched the important bits. I skipped the rest."

"But…that's not the point. You're supposed to watch it as if it was a story. It's not all about the facts, Twilight."

"I know, but the facts are what's important, I can pick up the rest later."

"…Wait a minute, that portable DVD player should've run out of batteries."

"It did. I used my magic to operate it once it did."

"…" Josh sighed. "Anyway, is there something I can do for you? Or did you just pop along to say hello?"

"Well…I had nothing in particular in mind. Rarity wanted me to ask you something; which color would you prefer, black or white?"

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's she doing?"

"She's making clothes for everypony – and you – for Celestia's big birthday thing in 8 days time."

Josh sighed and rolled his eyes. "White." He replied. "I just hope it's…fitting…"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because she didn't even tell me she was making anything."

"I think it was gonna be a surprise, but she doesn't like improvising." Twilight replied. "Unlike you."

Josh chuckled. "They were planned improvisions. I knew what I was doing."

Twilight sighed and shook her head, her eyes flicking back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Josh. "Unbelievable." She muttered.

"What was that?" Josh asked. "Couldn't hear you."

"Sorry, I was just thinking out loud." Twilight replied. "A-anyway, I'll leave you 2 to have your fun. Thanks, Josh." She turned to leave.

Josh didn't want her to leave, since he felt like he was being rude, but he didn't really know what to say. He watched her leave, hoping Rainbow Dash would say something, but she didn't.

"Hey Josh?"

Rainbow Dash's voice caught his attention. "Hm?" He looked at her.

"The way you were driving back there, it goes against most of what you've taught me. How and why?"

Josh chuckled. "Rainbow Dash" he put his hand on her shoulder "I've taught you everything you know but not everything I know." He winked. "Anyway, if some of the stuff back there really did baffle you, I think you need more training. Go help yourself to something to eat and drink and I'll program something suitable for you."

"Uh, okay. You want anything?"

"I'll get something later. Once I've done this for you."

" 'Kay." Rainbow Dash headed off.

Josh immediately started programming things, his fingers blazing across the panel.

Within a matter of minutes, Rainbow Dash returned. She obviously just munched on something quickly and chugged a glass of water. "How is it?" She asked.

"Just finishing the final touches now." Josh replied as he pushed the last of the keys. "Done." He handed her one of the devices. "Ready when you are."

Rainbow Dash took it from him. "So what are we doing this time?"

"You'll see what YOU will be doing when we get there." Josh said as he placed one on his neck.

They both laid down on the beds and pressed the button.

**\/\/\/\/\/**

They arrived in a big open area. The weather looked rather overcast. In front of them a couple meters was a car. And in the distance was a track that was only paved with small kerbs about 3 inches high. They were separated by a normal track width and appeared to lay out a circuit.

"Where are we Josh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Josh simply walked over to the car. Rainbow Dash followed him.

"This is a Caterham R500. 263 horsepower. Might not seem like much to you, but it weighs under 1000 kilograms, making it very light, and therefore faster, but harder to control. Think you're up to it?"

Rainbow Dash smiled. "I'm up for anything." She replied as she headed towards the driver's seat.

She slid herself in (which was a bit more complex than usual, since it was a narrow cockpit), and put both her hooves on the steering wheel.

Josh immediately told her to take her hooves off. Which she did. He then leant over her into the passenger's seat and picked up a roll of duct tape. "I'm just gonna direct your hooves if you don't mind." He asked.

"No, go ahead." Replied Rainbow Dash, still unsure of what he was doing.

Josh put her left hoof on the shifter and duct taped it to the shifter. He then placed her other hoof above where she would normally have it and duct taped it. "The idea of this is to teach you further about car control. You only get 45 degrees of turning each way. Keep that in mind when cornering. Any questions?"

"Nah, I can take it from here." Rainbow Dash replied as she found the key, twisted it and started the engine.

"Good. I won't go anywhere, come find me when you can get a lap under 1 minute 30 seconds. To get out of the simulation, you pull the Synaptic Stimulator from your neck. I know it's not here in the sim, but if you feel around your neck, you'll feel it." He said as he put his hand on his neck.

Rainbow Dash did the same, and to her surprise it was there.

"The only thing that can interact with it is you. So nothing in the sim will touch it. Just pull it off and that'll make you exit the sim. Come find me when you can put in a lap, I'll be around the house somewhere." And with that, he pulled from his neck and just vanished.

Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the course in front of her. _'So I just follow the path laid out by the bricks…'_ She gave the engine a few revs, put it in gear and then dropped the clutch. The car jerked forwards as it took off.

The first thing she noticed was the amount of wheelspin she picked up coming off. She made a ton of throttle corrections to keep it under control.

She approached the first corner. A 90 degree left. _'Easy enough.'_ She got to her braking point and mashed her hoof down, travelling through the gears. Suddenly, the wheels all locked, all at the same time. She tried to correct it, but every time she unlocked them, they locked as soon as she put her hoof back down on the brake again.

She managed to get it slowed down (just) and turned the wheel towards the corner. Just as she did, she felt the back go light. She wasn't even trying and the car lost its rear grip. She tried to countersteer but then remembered the duct tape around her right forehoof. _'Uh-oh…'_

She let the car roll and managed to just clip the kerb, but kept it on the track. _'Phew…'_

She accelerated towards the next corner. _'Fast right. I can take that in 4__th__.'_ She began to brake more cautiously than before, trying to minimize wheel lock. She then went from 5th to 4th to set the car up for the corner. But as she did, she felt as she just got punted from behind. The car now had too much inertia, and she was just a passenger. _'That looks like a nasty kerb…'_

The wheels bounced over the kerb and she landed with a thud on the other side. "Damn…" She said to herself, trying to figure it out. _'What happened? It felt like I just got shoved…'_

She looked around, but there was no-one other than herself in the area. She then saw a small black object lying not too far away from her with a note on it. She wriggled her hooves out of the duct tape (which wasn't too difficult because her hooves are round) and went to take a look.

She peeled the note off and had a look at the thing. It felt sort of like the same material shoes are made from and had a hole in the middle of it...like a shoe...it was a shoe. But there was something different about it. Its radius suddenly increased around the right half of it, and it was made of much harder material.

She went to read the note.

'_You should've noticed it by now, so I made this and left it here to see if it would help. Wear it on your right hind hoof and use it to blip the throttle._

_Josh_

_PS: If you're still can't get the car to settle down, try slowing right down through the corners and gradually increase your speed per lap. It'll give you more of a feel of the car and how it handles.'_

"…That might work…" Rainbow Dash said to herself.

She discarded the note and looked at the 'shoe' Josh had made her. She slipped her right hind hoof into it. Surprisingly enough, it fit. A bit big, but it fit good enough.

She walked back to the car and jumped back in. She slowly drove it over the kerb and then looked back down the track and applied the gas.

**\/\/\/\/**

Josh sat upstairs in his room on his laptop, surfing through old photographs. He glanced out the window from time to time to check that Rainbow Dash wasn't coming out to tell him she had done it.

He sat staring at a photo of a young him sitting on the hood of his Dad's car with his Dad standing next to him. The more he stared, the more memories came back to him.

He chuckled. "I'm training her in a similar way you trained me, Dad. Although she's progressing A LOT faster than I did. Then again, she's enjoying it much more than I did. And the tools of the trade have changed a lot…" He stopped as he realized he was talking to himself, but he decided he should carry on, since it felt kind of important to him.

"I never did repay you for those alloys for your Supra. Although I was 8 years old at the time, so I guess I couldn't really afford it either way." He chuckled. "I just wished our relationship continued the way it was when I was around 10 years old." He leant over and got some pieces of paper out of his filing cabinet. "Obviously it did, but it was on a foundation of lies. And if things continued the way they were going, I would've been in big trouble about a year from now."

He looked down at the papers he had in his hands. "Damn that's some big numbers. But that doesn't matter anymore." He tore the pieces of paper straight down the middle then folded them in half and tore them again.

He looked back at his laptop screen. "Thanks, Dad. For everything." He then closed his laptop screen.

He walked downstairs and into the garage, where his 2 cars were. He went to the front and perched on the hood of the Ginetta, rubbing the hood with his hand. "I don't deserve to drive you, but I did what I needed to do to race, and I know you respect me for that. But now that's no longer a burden."

He looked up at his clock. _'It's been a while, so I think she's got it sorted by now.'_

He walked back out into the garden and into the shuttle. He went down and into the room where Rainbow Dash was. He laid down on the medical bed next to her and placed the Synaptic Stimulator on his head. He closed his eyes as he pressed the button.

**\/\/\/\/**

He arrived just as Rainbow Dash was coming around the final corner and across the line. She immediately stopped and got out of the car. "How's it going?" Josh asked.

"I got under 1-30." She replied.

"Really? Let's have a look." He looked into the car to see the electronic lap timer. "1-29? Really, Dashie? No faster?"

"It's under 1-30 isn't it?"

"I guess." Josh stood up straight. "No do a 1 flat or less."

"What!? That's impossible!"

"I can do it, so what can't you?"

"Well then prove it!" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Alright." Josh hopped into the driver's seat and adjusted the seat accordingly. He ripped off the duct tape that was in place for Rainbow Dash. "Duct tape me." He ordered Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash got the duct tape out from the floorwell of the passenger's seat and taped his hands up. "Good. I'll be back in under a minute." He then zoomed off.

Rainbow Dash watched contently as he blazed around the track, not even taking the time to blink. She took to the sky a little bit to try and get a better view of the way he drove.

Soon enough (too soon in Rainbow Dash's mind), he arrived back at the Start/Finish line. "56 seconds. Not bad but not great…." He said to himself.

"WHAT!? Impossible! I almost totaled the car trying to get a 1-30!"

"Well, I had about 12 years more practice than you. Keep at it." Josh said with a chuckle as he pulled himself out of the duct tape.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "12 years? You mean you've been racing since you were 5?"

Josh chuckled. "Kinda, but that's another story."

"Please tell me." Rainbow Dash replied as she got comfortable in the passenger's seat, waiting for Josh's story.

"Well, alright." Josh replied. He got comfortable himself and cleared his throat. "Back then, my Dad drove a Toyota Supra. It was a great car. It had a 3 liter twin turbo engine that kicked out 300 horsepower. And there used to be loads of back roads that were deserted, so my Dad used to drop the hammer around those. One day, I was around 5 years old, I was sitting in his lap whilst he was bombing it, and I said 'I want to drive', and my Dad literally took his hands off the wheel and went 'Go on then, you drive.' Ever since then I've been driving with him teaching me. Obviously I couldn't reach the pedals at first, so I had to sit on my Dad's lap for a few years, but once I was tall enough, I used to drive on my own. There was never any police around, so we never got caught."

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Wow. All my Dad ever did was supervise me. He didn't really know as much as me."

"Yeah. Anyway, hop back in and try and get it under 1 minute. I'll stay here with you, just so I can watch you." Josh replied.

"Right." Rainbow Dash said as she headed back over to the car.

It took her most of the day to get under 1 minute. To be honest, Josh was bored out of his mind watching her drive around in a circuit barely getting any faster. She only gradually got faster throughout the course of the day until she finally pipped under a minute.

Rainbow Dash climbed out of the car. "Well, I did it!" She exclaimed proudly, sweating quite a bit. "59 point 5 seconds!"

"Not bad I guess." Josh replied. "1 minute is considered pushing the car to the limit around this small training track. Now get back in and do 20 laps averaging 1 minute 10 per lap."

"What!? Why!?"

"Because that's the next lesson."

"But you still haven't explained to me this lesson!"

"This lesson was to teach you the importance of driving smoothly and car control. This next lesson is going to teach you about consistency and management. I've given too much away already, just get in the car." He said as he walked over to it.

As Rainbow Dash was strapping herself in, he adjusted the timer slightly. "You won't be allowed a live timing readout. Instead, you'll just be getting sector split times. You won't need duct tape for this either."

"What? But how I'm I gonna know how to manage my pace if I don't know what lap time I'm on."

"Use your internal chronometer." Josh replied. "Go!" He shouted as he got out of her way.

Rainbow Dash sped off down the track, utterly confused about what Josh was talking about. _'Internal chronometer…isn't that just a fancy way of saying body clock?'_

'_Guess I'll leave her to it…'_ Josh thought as he left.

**\/\/\/\/**

Rainbow Dash came out of the simulation, having completed all the tasks Josh had asked of her.

She found a piece of paper lying on her belly. She picked it up and read it. _'Your laptimes'_ were the only words on it apart from the numbers.

She took it with her as she headed back to Josh's house to find him sitting on the sofa in the living room, having something to eat. "Ah, you're done." He said as he noticed her. "Take a seat and grab yourself some crackers and mango chutney."

She sat down and looked at the food in question. "Crackers and…"

"Mango chutney. It's one of my favorite snacks." Josh finished for her. "Anyway, here's what I want you to do now. I want you to give me a full report about your lap times. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to write an essay or anything, I just want to know about your lap times. Were they around 1-10? Slower? Faster? If so, why? Stuff like that."

"Well, at first I thought I was going too slowly, so I started to speed up…."

Rainbow Dash spent the next few minutes talking to Josh about it. "Can you stop replying to my every sentence with 'why?'?"

"I'm just trying to get you to use your head some more."

"Hmm…well, I guess the reason I…"

As Josh listened to her, in his mind, he saw an aurora glisten around her slightly. _'That's my girl. You're getting better. You're starting to realize that it's not all about speed.'_

"So I suppose that's why my times went up and down a lot halfway through."

"That's correct." Josh replied, not really sure what she said since he was thinking to himself. "You've done well today, Dashie."

"So what do you want me to do now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Josh chuckled. "Nothing. Just do what you want."

"Really? 'Cause I had some ideas…" She said with a hint in her eyes as she moved her forelegs underneath Josh's arms. Josh thought she was about to cuddle him, so he proceded to cuddle her back until suddenly "C'mon, let's take a flight!" And with that, she yanked him out of the seat, out of the door and up into the sky.

* * *

**And that's the end of this chapter. Disappointing I know, since nothing much happens, but this is exactly what I mean when I write "filler" chapters. I could just skip right to the action if I wanted to, but I know a lot of people like to know what happens between now and then etc. But to be honest, these chapters just seem incredibly boring for me to write when I think about the other things I've got in mind.**

**Oh well, tell me what you think!**

**'Till next time,**

**Josh**


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